Moments Missed
by filesfreak4life
Summary: Alternate Ending to 5X18, but still Leyton! Luke couldn't take it anymore and left...who went with him, and how will everyone react when he comes back a year later.
1. I Can't Be Here Anymore

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"You mean am I nervous about seeing all of our friends and family and explaining what happened to us in the last year after we left without saying goodbye to any of them? Yeah, Luke, I'm a little nervous..." Peyton says, turning to face him in bed.

"What do you think is going to happen?"

"Luke, we... God, I know that it hurt them when we left... and part of me thinks that they're going to be happy for us just in knowing that we are okay, but do you know how many questions we are going to have to answer when we get back in town tomorrow?"

"Well, for one thing, I hope that we get settled before anyone realizes that we're back. We've been gone for over a year, so I'm pretty sure they aren't expecting us to show up at the doorstep." he says, making a joke, and then watching the concern cross her features. "What?"

"How exactly are we going to do this? I mean, we _are_ just going to show up on their doorstep..."

"We could wait for a few more weeks, and start contacting them now to prepare them for us coming back?"

"No, it's gotta be like a band-aid, cause I'm going to wuss out if it isn't." she says, allowing her nervousness to show as she wrung her hands.

He placed his hands over hers, trying to calm her fears. "You know why we want to go back, and I couldn't agree with you more. I think they'll be okay... they'll get over it, and everything will go back to normal."

She nods, and then moves to put her head on his chest as he hugs her close. Neither was going to sleep that night, playing back what happened a little over a year ago in both of their heads.

–

A year ago...

–

He knew that Haley was right, and that he needed to stop running, but he couldn't face it here anymore. He thought that he was going to have everything figured out by now, but it was too hard. Seeing Peyton in her office was the last thing that he should have done, but he couldn't help it. After all these years she still had that power over him...drawing him to her time after time. Maybe that was for a reason. When she told him her dream, he knew... he knew that what happened with Lindsay was the best thing that could have happened. He knew that Peyton was it for him, and everyone else was saying the same thing. Yet, he still found himself running.

By now, Haley and Nathan had probably put Jamie to sleep and were halfway there themselves, so it was too late to knock on the door to say goodbye. Instead, he left a note stuck to the front door, hoping they would find it and accept that he needed his space.

_I know that this is going to piss you guys off, but I've got to get out of here. I know you told me to stop running Hales, but I can't be here. I can't be here with my past here... Lindsay, Peyton, Keith, everything that has caused so many different emotions in me. The house will be taken care of, and I don't know when I'll be back. I'm going to be fine, and know that I will call if I run into any issues. Haley, I know that the mom in you is going to freak out, and I know the best friend in you is going to be hurt, but I'm going to be fine. Take good care of my nephew, and tell him I love him._

_Lucas_

With that, he got in his car and headed for the airport, ready to hop a plane to anywhere that sounded appealing. His second novel was done, and hopefully the money from that would have him be set for a while, and he could figure everything out when he got to wherever it was that he was going.

Once at the airport, that was the problem...knowing where he was going. As he sat, contemplating everything from the day, he glanced at his phone. He knew the only thing that would point him in the right direction, and he went for it...

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, it's me. I can't be here anymore. I want to start over, and I want to do it away from all the bad memories."

"_Luke..."_

"I want you to be with me..." he said into the phone, and before she could respond, he continued, "I know that this sounds crazy, and I know that there is so much that we need to work out, but I want this with you. If you don't want to come, then that is fine, but--"

"_Fifteen minutes...how long are we going to be gone?"_

"What?"

"_I need fifteen minutes to pack, and I want to know how long we are going to be gone."_

"I don't know...however long it takes to get it right again."

"_I'll pack for a month, and we'll see how it goes..."_

"Peyton..."

"_Fifteen minutes..."_

She hung up the phone on her end, and she was absolutely reeling. Part of her contemplated the idea that she was actually still asleep until she ran into something in the closet and felt a sharp pain in her side.

When she finally got enough stuff together, she sat on her bed for a moment, really taking the time to think about what she was about to do. She loved him, and that was never a question in her mind. Now he was taking this risk with her, which showed... what exactly? That was the part she was hung up on. Was she his second choice? Did he really still love her? If she didn't go, would she regret it?

The idea of regretting not going forced her out of her bedroom that night, and in her hurry to get out of the house, she didn't dare wake up her housemate for fear of the questioning that would surround her actions. Instead she wrote a quick, but thoughtful note saying her goodbyes.

_I know you are going to freak when you read this, but I'm leaving town for a while. I don't exactly know how it is going to pan out, but know that I'm going to be okay, so don't worry about me. You are the best friend in the world for how much you have helped me out these past few months with all the drama, but I've got to figure all this out for myself now. I love you B. Davis..._

_P._

And with that, she left, not knowing that the next time she set foot in this house was going to be very different.

–

Present Day

–

"Hey, we're here babe." he says, shaking her shoulder a bit to wake her.

"Already?"

"You were tired...I even think you started snoring."

She turns in her seat to hit him in that moment, "I did not, shut up!"

They exchange laughs and looks, and then find themselves sitting in the driveway, seemingly pondering the meaning of life.

"Looks like I never left."

"So this is home now?"

"If you want it to be, it is."

"There is no better place for us, so I guess it is home."

He nods in agreement, and pushes open his door, stepping out into the fresh air.

After a quick unpacking of the car, they parked it in the garage and set out to relax for a little while. A little while turned into a long while as the two fell asleep for a few hours and woke up to a dark house.

"When did we fall asleep?" she asks, trying to wipe the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"Probably right after we sat down. It was a long day." he says, getting up from his spot on the sofa to turn on a few lights in the house while she stayed in her spot. "Do you mind if I grab a quick shower before we go grab some food?"

"Not at all, but hurry up, cause I am starving!" she says, pushing him towards the bathroom.

It was a few minutes into the shower that there is a knock at the door, and not thinking anything of it, she walks to the front of the house to answer it.

"Hello?" she says, opening the door, and coming face to face with none other than Nathan Scott.

His eyes widen as he takes in the site in front of him, scanning over her body twice to ensure that who he thought he was seeing was in fact who he was seeing. "Peyton?"

"Nathan!" she says, excited, but biting her lip at the same time.

"You're here...why are you here? Is Lucas here? Do you know where Luke is?" he asks, having not had any contact with either since they left, and not knowing for sure if they were even together.

"He's in the shower... we actually just got in a few hours ago."

"Oh..." he says, not being able to meet her eyes, and focusing on every other part of her but her face.

"Nathan, it's really good to see you... Lucas is going to be so happy when he sees that you're here."

"Does Brooke know you're back?" he asks, causing a moment of panic in Peyton's eyes.

"No... nobody knows that we're here..." she says, and then realizes that he somehow knew that they were there, so what was stopping everyone from the grand inquisition "...so how did you know that we were here."

"I drive by almost every night to make sure everything is good with the house, and tonight I saw lights on. I thought that Karen and Andy might be here, so I figured that I would stop by."

"No, just me and Luke."

"Yeah..." he says, getting uncomfortable. "Listen, why don't you tell Luke that I was here, and we'll see you guys around."

"Why don't you just--"

"No, that's okay, I might see him another day." he says, turning to walk away, still not willing to keep any eye contact with her until the last moment when he turns around, "You should really tell Brooke you're home... even if you're just visiting."

She watched him drive away and thought about the whole meeting, wondering if this was the reaction they were to expect from everyone. Nathan seemed almost cold, making sure that he kept his distance, not wanting her to see any kind of reaction to them being home. Then there was the look in his eyes when he mentioned Brooke. She didn't even try to decipher what that look shared, but knew that she was in for a ride when she told Brooke that she was back.

"Peyton? Did I hear you talking to someone?"

"Nathan."

"Nathan's here?" he says, lighting up with the mention of his brother.

"He left... he said that he might see you around sometime..."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Luke, I don't think this was such a good idea..."

–

A year ago

–

When the couple woke up that morning, all seemed well. Breakfast was made and Jamie was already out and ready to jump in the pool. With his fear of the water finally conquered, you couldn't get him out of the water, and he claims that the only thing that was slowing him down was that he couldn't keep his swimsuit on when he was sleeping.

It wasn't until a few hours later that the letter was found.

"I'm going to call him."

"Hales, maybe we need to just let this one go... let him have his moments, you know?"

"I'm his best friend Nathan, I need to be there for him."

"Haley, he says that he's going to be fine, just let him be."

"Maybe you're right..."

The phone chose to right right at that moment.

"Hello? Luke?"

"_Hey, no it's Brooke... Peyton is gone."_

"So is Lucas..."

"_Did you get a note?"_

"Yeah, what do you think?"

"_Well, maybe they finally got it together..."_

"Maybe they did."

"_I give them a week...then they'll be back and as Leytony as ever."_

"Brooke, you have got to stop with the couple names."

"_Why? It's so cute!" _she says, continuing the conversation, and letting go of the fact that her best friend left, and fully anticipating that she would see her again in just a week or two.

It wasn't a week though... it was too many moments to count... it was Brooke being attacked and having no one to lean on... it was Jamie in the hospital without his Uncle close by... it was depression... it was gaining a foster child... it was losing a child... it was all these moments without the people that mattered most to them.

–

Present Day

–

"We don't sell the maternity line here, but you can get it online at Bdavis dot com." the sales girl said from behind the counter.

"I was actually looking for the owner, is she--"

Overhearing the conversation, Brooke Davis strutted around to the counter coming face to face with the last person she would have expected. "Peyton..."

–

Okay, so I know that I haven't updated my other one in a while, but I promise that it is coming. In the meantime, what do y'all think of this one?? Came up with it from a really weird dream... I mean you know that you watch too much One Tree Hill when your dreams involve plotlines with the charaters... I'm such a dork!

Anyways, review review!!


	2. On Our Own

"We don't sell the maternity line here, but you can get it online at Bdavis dot com." the sales girl said from behind the counter.

"I was actually looking for the owner, is she--"

Overhearing the conversation, Brooke Davis strutted around to the counter coming face to face with the last person she would have expected. "Peyton..."

"Hey!" she says, not moving to hug her friend because of the look of shock that was still on her features.

"How long are you visiting for?" Brooke asks, a little too cold to a friend that she had known for years.

"We're back, Brooke. For good. "

"We?"

"Me and Luke."

A small glimmer forms in her eye, but is quickly gone and replaced with that same cold look of surprise when she first walked in the room. "Well, I'll try and stop by to see you guys."

"Brooke..."

"Peyton, I've got stuff to get done here, so maybe I'll come by in a few days." she says, trying to look like she was extremely busy when she had been interrupted.

With a small shrug and smirk to her friend, she said a quiet "See you later then..." before turning to walk out of the store.

"Peyton." Brooke calls, causing the blond to turn around, "It's going to take some time..."

"I get that Brooke... I do."

Small smiles exchanged, and both went on their separate ways.

While Brooke and Peyton had their little reunion, another reunion had been happening across town between Lucas and Haley. It seemed to be going just as well as the scene in Clothes over Bro's, but Haley wasn't about to let Lucas walk away.

"Seriously? You just show up without letting any of us know that you are back, and you are expecting us to welcome you with open arms?"

"I never said that!" he screamed back at her throwing his arms up in the air in surrender.

"Luke, you left over a _year_ ago! You took off and left nothing but a note, didn't answer any of my phone calls, obviously didn't listen to any voicemails, and didn't have anything to do with e-mail. Over a _year_ Luke... and nothing."

"Haley I know you were worried about me, but you guys knew that I was with Peyton, you--"

"Worried! Oh no, Lucas, I got over being worried a long time ago. I went from being concerned to becoming worried. Then I was just pissed. Then I was sad. Then I was heartbroken. Then I got here... angry. I stopped caring enough to be worried about you Lucas Scott." she says, allowing her voice to drop down to a forced whisper at the last comment before walking out of the room to wipe her tears.

He started to go after her, but was stopped by his brother, who had stayed close by to keep an ear on the conversation. "Don't. She needs time for this... all of this."

"We wanted to talk to you guys right away...we did... but then after a while, it was so much easier to not have to explain everything."

"Well, you guys better start coming up with some explanations, because the door opened to a pregnant Peyton with a ring on her finger and you off in the shower like you just settled back in. A lot can happen in a year Luke. A lot."

"Nathan, what happened here?"

Nathan shakes his head, not meeting the eyes of the older Scott brother. "You should go. I need to go check on Haley."

He walks towards the door as Nathan turns to go after his wife. It was then that he noticed how quiet the house was. What once was a loud house where everyone came to be with each other and be loud and have fun was no longer there.

When he arrived home, he found Peyton sitting on the couch with a hand rubbing her stomach and her brow knit in thought. He watched her for a moment, taking in her beauty, seeing the sun hit her in just a way that brought out the gold in her hair. He watched as the same sun allowed him to see a stray tear roll down her cheek. How did they get here?

–

One Year Ago

–

"So we're in Charlotte... now where do we go from here?" Peyton asks, sitting down on the bed of their hotel room, exhausted after driving through the night and seeing the sun start to rise.

As he sits down next to her, he moves to pull her in his arms. "Where do you want to go?"

"Why don't we just stay here in Charlotte?"

"That isn't too close?"

"To what? Tree Hill?" she asks, turning to look up at him.

"yeah..."

Finally she takes herself out of his arms and grabs his hand in hers, "Luke, what are we doing? Why are we running, and what are we running from?"

"We aren't running..."

"Luke, you just asked me if we were too close to home? Now that leads me to believe that you want to be as far away from there as possible."

"It is too hard to be there. All of my good memories with you are there, and all of my bad memories with you are there."

"I can see leaving the bad behind, but why would you want to leave the good ones behind too?"

"Because I don't believe in them anymore. They don't hold the magic for me that they once did. I'd rather forget all of it."

At that, she stood up and walked out of the hotel without a word, leaving him calling after her.

When she stepped back in the room a few hours later, he was sitting in the same spot with his head in his hands, trying to make sense of what happened just a few hours ago. "Do you understand what it feels like to have someone say that they want to forget some of the best memories you have?"

"Peyton, I didn't mean--"

"When you left me in that hotel room in L.A., that was all I had to hold on to. That was all that I had to make me believe that somewhere in all of this you still loved me, and that I hadn't just thrown away the love of my life. When I came back to Tree Hill, that is what drove me to finally confront my feelings about you and us, and everything. I know you didn't mean it the way it came out, but it still hurt."

"I didn't mean it to hurt you, but I just want to start over with you. I don't want to think about the crap that happened with Lindsay, and I don't want to think about all the drama that we had in high school. We are the same people at the core, and that should be enough without the memories."

"So, what? This is a test? Can we forget the past and still fall in love?" she asks, getting annoyed with not being able to really see why they left.

"No, because I already love you, and I told you once that I always would, so I'm not going back on that. I just want a fresh start with you and with everything else in my life."

"Oh Luke, I love you too... I'm just still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am even here with you."

"It has always been you Peyton, you know that, and you've known that all along." he says, putting a finger to her chin, and tilting in up so he could see the morning sun glance across her cheek.

–

Present Day

–

Both were jarred out of their contemplation by a knock at the door, and as Peyton turned to get up and answer it, she saw Lucas leaning against the wall.

"Watching me again?" she says, wiping a small tear from her eye.

"Always..."

"I'll get the door, and you get the dinner started?"

"Sounds good!" he says, kissing her before making his way past her and into the kitchen.

The person standing on the other side of the door was the last one she thought she'd see again today, but there she was. Standing on the front porch, with two boxes in tow was the woman she knew to be her best friend, Brooke Davis.

"Brooke, what are you doing here?" she asks, trying to hide the surprise.

"You had boxes at my place from when you left, and I thought that I would bring them by, and they have been in my attic because there is... well, don't worry about that, but here they are, and I thought that you might like them because some of them are some of you drawings and then there are some clothes in there too, but that is probably a stupid thing for me to --"

"Brooke!" she says, cutting off her friend as she became faster and faster while ranting about the two boxes she brought.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

"Nervous? Brooke, you're my best friend!"

"I am?" she asks, not in wonder that the title is still there in Peyton's mind, but wonder that she could think them best friends and not call in a year.

"Can we talk?"

"Coffee?" Brooke asks, tilting her head toward the street.

"Ice Cream?" Peyton counters, rubbing her stomach.

Brooke nods, as Peyton calls back into the house, "Hey baby, I'm going to get some ice cream with Brooke, and I'll be back in a bit."

He yells something about dinner, but she ignores it, focusing on the friend she had abandoned.

While sitting down for ice cream, the two barely speak a word to each other. They glance up and their eyes meet occasionally, rousing questions in both women that they can't muster up the courage to voice.

Brooke was the first to break the silence, "Why did you leave? I mean, I know that Lucas asked you to, but why did you guys leave, and why did you stay gone for so long?"

"We wanted to know that we could do this on our own."

"What... this?"

"Us... together... loving each other, being together."

"Peyton, I never knew two people who were so meant to be together." Brooke said, causing Peyton to smirk and widen her eyes.

"That is why."

"Because you were meant to be together? Couldn't you have been meant for each other here instead of in... wherever the hell the two of you were?"

"Charlotte."

"What?"

"We were in Charlotte."

"As in North Carolina, not even four hours away Charlotte."

"Yes?" she says, wondering why that was even significant.

"Un-frickin-beleiveable. You guys were only four hours away!"

"Okay, Brooke... You all told us we were meant for each other... you, Nathan, Haley... hell Skills wanted me to break up the wedding, and Karen even gave Lucas the ring for me."

"I don't see the problem!"

"It kept getting told to us so much that we thought that maybe we were really just attracted to this idea because everyone else was telling us that we were supposed to be together, and somewhere along the line, I think that we started doubting our actual love and going off what others were saying."

"So you guys left because we kept telling you that you were meant to be together?"

"No, we left because we were both unhappy, and needed a fresh start, and wanted to do it together."

"Well, you got your fresh start..."

"Yeah, we both did..."

–

A Year Ago

–

For the past few weeks the two of them have moved incredibly slow with their newly renewed relationship. They tested the waters and realized that what they had was true and perfect, and had many a fight along the way.

It was a week after they had left and it was after the first time they had made love that she heard it.

"I love you..." Lucas says in a below whisper voice.

She knew that he assumed she was asleep because right afterwards, he would sigh and then wrap his arms around her and not wait for any type of response. It kept on the entire week after that until one day, his whisper changed.

"Marry me," he said that night before settling back into the bed.

It was finally time to let him know though, that the exchanges were not as secret as he had intended them to be.

"Yes." she finally says, after waiting for him to wrap his arms around her like he always did after his small confessions of love.

"What?"

She turns at his question, casually glancing back at him with tired eyes, "I said yes..."

"Peyton, are you... I mean do you know what I..."

"Are you seriously going to question whether or not I want to marry you?" she asks, grabbing onto his arm, "after I told you two weeks ago that all I do is dream that we are back in that hotel room to me and you propose and I say yes... Luke, I've known since the summer after our senior year in high school that I wanted to marry you, and nothing has ever changed that."

"Wait!" he finally exclaims, throwing up the covers and getting out of bed to search through a bag for something.

Finding it, he crosses over to her again, pulling her arms so she could sit up on the edge of the bed. He kneels down in front of her and opens up the black box in his hands, "Peyton, will you marry me."

"Yes."

–

Okay, so I am trying to do a present day/flashback thing, and I hope that it isn't confusing anybody. I keep having these different ideas come into my head about what happened to them while they were away but what happened to everyone else too, and my head is crazy right now... I can only imagine what Mark Schwahn deals with on a daily basis... And he has people that hate him and love him for the things he does to the characters (ahem... Peyton... I hope that it ends with them riding off into the sunset together and not her dying, because seriously... I am going to miss like a week of school if that happens... those of you that know anything... don't spoil me!)...

Anyways, I LOVE writing fanfic and I hope you like reading it! If you do REVIEW!!!


	3. From Worried to Upset

"Enough about me though...how's your life B. Davis?" Peyton says after having a moment to remember the past year.

"You know, it's actually getting kind of late, so why don't we get back to your place... or Luke's place... I... well, I guess it's your place now, right?"

Seeing that Brooke obviously wanted to dodge the bullet of her questioning about the last year, she stood up nodding and walking towards the door.

When they got back to the house, the two friends let themselves sit in the car for a moment, in an awkward silence. Peyton finally had to ask, "It's like senior year all over again, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll be in a room with me, but you won't talk to me, and you won't open up to me... We can't ever be like it was."

"Peyton, it may have only been a little over a year, but I don't think you understand how much can happen in that amount of time."

Getting frustrated with that answer, she threw her arms up in the air and turned in her seat to face her best friend, "Then tell me what happened here Brooke!"

"Some of it isn't mine to tell, Peyton."

"Then tell me about what is yours to tell."

Brooke's phone beeped and vibrated from the purse she had at her side, and as she reached in to get it out, she made it clear that the conversation was over, "Goodnight Peyton."

As she watched Brooke pull out her phone and start talking she couldn't help but wonder what was going on, but getting that she wasn't welcomed at that moment turned to walk into the house.

In the car, Brooke watched her friend go up the walk to the house, and pulled away from the curb as she listened to the woman who had been there for her in the last year.

"_Did you tell her anything?"_

"Haley, I told you that I wasn't going to tell her anything that wasn't mine to tell, but you need to talk to her and Lucas. I think that we all do."

"_Brooke, you were just as pissed as I was when the shit hit the fan and they didn't bother to come back from wherever the hell they were! What were they doing anyways? What was so important that they couldn't be here?"_

She knew her friend was on the verge of tears, but knew also, that it was going to be like a band-aid, so told her the information that she knew Nathan had kept from her, "They got married Haley..."

"_What?"_

"... and she's pregnant... and believe it or not, they were in Charlotte."

"_North Carolina?"_

"Yes."

"_I want it all back Brooke... I want Lucas back to being my best friend, the one I can lean on. I want Peyton to be my inspiration and my other best girl... I want this year back."_

"I know you do Haley."

–

While They Were Away

–

"Jamie, what's wrong buddy?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired..."

"Okay, well do you want to take a nap before we get to dinner?"

"Yeah..." he says, walking away, but stopping before the hallway to turn to his mother, "Did Uncle Lucas call yet? You said he was going to call soon."

"No, honey, he didn't, but I'm sure that he'll call you to talk. He and Peyton are just really busy right now." she says, not sounding convincing to even herself.

As Jamie walks out and into his room, Haley slams her hand down on the counter, "Damn You Lucas!"

"Hales?" Nathan says, coming in after hearing something hit the counter, finding his wife in tears as she sits at the stool. "What's wrong?"

"He can't even call his nephew... I mean he won't return any of our calls and it has been two months. Two months since he and Peyton left, and we haven't heard anything from either of them!"

"You know that they have a good reason Haley, it's Lucas and Peyton."

"Well when whatever the hell they are doing effects my son, then I have an issue. Nathan he is moping around here and has been since I told him that Lucas was going to be gone for a while."

"I know, but Hales, it is going to be okay, and it is Lucas, so I don't see him going off and doing anything stupid."

"I know that, but I want him back here with all of us. Him and Peyton, because I can't take much more of Brooke and all of her drama."

"Yeah, why did you and Luke decide to become popular in high school?"

"Shut up and help me with dinner." she says, swatting at his chest and putting a smile on her face.

It was a few hours later that dinner was ready and she decided to wake up Jamie to eat. She was met with a child who claimed that he didn't want any food and that he was still too tired.

As she felt his forehead, she knew that something wasn't right, "Nathan!"

He comes into the room quickly, "What's wrong?"

"Go get the thermometer for me, can you?"

"Momma, just let me sleep for a little longer... I'm not hungry." Jamie says, still half asleep as Haley waits for the thermometer to come back.

"Here." he says handing it off and taking a seat on the foot of his son's bed as she takes his temperature.

"103.2..." she says, turning on the light, "and he doesn't look right."

"Do you want to take him into the hospital, or do you want to wait it out?"

"Let's just get him out of these clothes and get some cool rags and see how it goes?"

"I'll go fill up the bathtub with some cool water, and that will get the fever down."

As they both took care of their jobs, they didn't know that this was to be the first of many sleepless nights with their baby boy.

–

Present Day

–

"_I can't believe that they were in Charlotte...I called them. We called them. When Jamie was...God Brooke!"_

"I know, and I know that you're upset. I think you and Nathan have all the right to be pissed at them, but at one point in time those two were our best friends, and don't we owe them to find out what went on and what happened?"

"_I can't talk to her right now...it's too soon to be..."_

"I know, and I understand that, but you should at least talk to Luke."

"_I'll think about it..."_

"Do it for Jamie at least." she says, knowing that would be what got her friend to talk to Lucas.

As they finished their conversation, another was beginning as Peyton walked into the house where her husband was sitting on the couch staring into the abyss that was their wall.

"Hey."

"Hey, how was ice cream?" he asks, being shaken out of his daze.

"I can't decide... the ice cream was good... but the conversation... not so much."

"We've had a lot of that here recently."

"I think Brooke is happy about us though. I've caught her in a few moments, but she won't come out and say it. I want to talk to the three of them and tell them everything that happened with us and find out what went on here."

The couple sat for a while and talked it out, deciding that they were going to wait until someone came to them before talking any more.

It was Skills and Nathan that made the first move between the group, crossing over to the "other side" and showing up on Lucas' doorstep on the next Saturday afternoon with a basketball in hand. However, opening the door, Peyton was expecting Brooke or Haley, and not the men of the clan.

"Dang P. Sawyer, you got fat!"

"Wow Skills, you are still as big of a jerk as when we left!" Peyton says, smiling and pulling him in for a hug.

"Seriously though, we be glad your back, cause it was a hot mess around here without you and Luke..." he says, walking into the kitchen like they were never gone, "So what's the haps, and where's the boy toy?"

"He's in the bedroom, probably sleeping, I'll go--" she says

Nathan cuts her off though, standing up from where he was leaning on the counter, "I'll go get sleeping beauty, and you two can chat it up."

"Thanks Nate."

"So, Skills, how's the love life going?" she asks as she grabs a glass for some water.

"Aw, me and Deb were kickin' it pretty good for a while, but now Skills is flyin' solo"

Peyton spits her water out and lets out a sound halfway between a laugh and a cough, "Deb! As in Nathan's mom Deb?!"

"Yeah, she and I met online, and then--"

"Skills I do not want to know!" she says and the two laugh for a moment, but quiet down, "I guess we missed a lot, huh?"

"I was a little upset when you all left, but I didn't have the major events like everybody else... You guys have some time to make up for P. Sawyer." he says, serious all of the sudden, but still light like he always was in talking about the stuff that mattered.

"Scott..." Lucas says, catching the tail end of their conversation and correcting his friend.

"What?"

"P. Scott"

"Dude, y'all got hitched! Damn, I knew it all along... I told Nate that you two ran off to get married, and he said that you wouldn't do anything stupid like that..." he says, and then catches the look on both of his friends' faces "he didn't mean stupid cause it was you two, he meant stupid cause you wouldn't do that without your... you know what, we best be going, and you can tell us all about it Luke. Later Peyton."

Lucas turns to give Peyton a quick kiss and tells her he would be back soon, and the boys leave for the River Court.

It was halfway through the game when Skills finally had to ask about the two of them getting married.

"So you get married after she got pregnant, or was that a planned thing?" Skills asked with no tact whatsoever.

"Skills, you can't ask stuff like that." Nathan says, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Oh Shut up, you know you want to find out how that went down."

"We got married before the baby."

"When?" Nathan asks, joining Skills in the questioning.

"About four weeks after we left."

"Dang, you move fast!"

"Yeah..."

–

While They Were Away

–

The past two weeks had flown by as they found a small apartment and she got settled in managing a few bands from Charlotte instead of Tree Hill. Luke was well into a third novel and seemed to be thriving on this trip away from home. As Peyton got ready to step into the shower for their "date" tonight, something caught her eye.

She picked up her engagement ring and saw for the first time the inscription along the inside, that read _True Love Always_. She couldn't understand why Lucas didn't ever mention it, and then got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Grabbing her robe, she walked into the spare bedroom where they had decided to put their office and found her fiancee writing away.

"Luke, what's this?" she says, holding out the ring.

"Your ring?"

"I have to ask you something, and I don't want you to take it the wrong way or think that I am questioning anything, but this is Karen and Keith's ring, right? I wasn't imagining that?"

"It is."

"This is also the ring that Lindsay wore during your engagement, right?"

He winces at the fact that she had realized that, "yes."

"So, was this put on their for Karen, or did you just happen to share this idea with Lindsay as well?" she asks, pointing to the inside of the ring, and allowing herself to freak out a little bit.

"It was my mom."

"Oh... so Keith wrote that for her in the ring...that's so..."

"No... it was my mom who wrote that in there for me, well, for you I guess."

Sensing that there was a story behind this, she moved from her spot in the doorway to sit on his lap, quirking an eyebrow as if telling him to go on.

"After what happened with Lindsay, I sent the ring back to my mom. I think that I wrote her a letter with it and said something about how I obviously hadn't found the right person, and that she should have it back."

"Okay."

"Then, about two weeks before we left, I got the package in the mail with the ring in it again, and a note from my mom that said to look at it again, and I had found the right person, so I should go after her... I thought she was talking about me going after Lindsay, until I looked at the ring and found the inscription. She meant you, of course."

"Your mom has always been one of our biggest supporters you know?"

"How do you know that?"

"The day I met her, I think she knew that there was something there between us. Brooke came home after your accident junior year freaking out. The only thing other than you that she would talk about was how your mom didn't know who she was. In fact I think she said "she looked at me like an alien with two heads when I told her my name was Brooke, and grew another head when I said that I was his girlfriend.""

"How did I not know any of this?"

"You were kind of unconscious...but anyways, the next day, I came into the hospital and no one was sitting with you, so I sat down. A few minutes later, your mom came in and when I went to introduce myself she said she already knew who I was from you talking about me."

"Yeah... I was kind of obsessed with you."

"Yeah... you were, but it's cute."

"Well, I get you for the rest of my life, so I might as well be obsessed, right?"

"Tomorrow..."

"What is tomorrow?"

"Let's get married tomorrow..."

"Peyton."

"No, why are we waiting? We have both known that this was coming, so why stop now?"

"Tomorrow..."

–

Present Day

–

He tells them the story, leaving out the part where they tumbled into bed for a day filled with nothing even remotely PG rated, and the two men laughed.

"You two have it so bad... but I am happy for you, man." Skills said, hugging him in that guy way.

"I might not show it, but I'm happy for you too big brother."

"Thanks Nate, that means a lot coming from you."

–

So what do we think?? What do you all think about the whole Jamie thing?? Oh, and I decided against the italics for the flashbacks, but I did like the idea of putting some things not in the Leyton point of you, but switched it over to Brooke for a bit there. I'm just working on it here! Hehe!! Anyways, You are all great, and keep reading... cause we still have 2 weeks until our show comes back, and this is the only thing that gets me through...

Review Review!!

And if you are a Hilarie Burton fan, you totally need to look up the Southern Gothic Productions Blog, because there are some seriously awesome people over there that support the lovely woman who plays Peyton Sawyer.


	4. When it Rains it Pours

"Honestly, part of me knew that you two went off and got hitched, or at least engaged... I wasn't expecting you guys to have been married a year and pregnant when you got back though. That was a shock." Nathan says, pausing a moment before taking another shot while the two of them were alone after Skills had made up an excuse to leave the two brothers by themselves.

"We didn't expect that one either, trust me, but it's good. We're happy."

"Can you just answer one thing though?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Why didn't you ever think to call and see how we were? Why didn't you listen to any of your messages or check your e-mails?" he says, getting frustrated, but keeping it in check.

"Because it was too hard, and Peyton and I needed that time to figure out what was going on with us."

"Well don't you think that was a little more than selfish? What about us? Haley needed you, Jamie needed you, and hell... I needed you, and you guys were gone."

He just waits for a moment staring at his brother, but is then pulled out of his thoughts with the beeping of his watch. "I've got to go, I'll see you later."

"Nathan, wait... can Peyton and I come see you guys this week? Maybe do dinner or something with you, Haley, and Jamie?"

"I think that you and Haley need to talk, but I don't think that Peyton should come over for a while."

"What do you guys have against--"

"Luke, just trust me." he says, leaving Luke alone on the River Court to contemplate what just transpired between the two of them.

Peyton had grown restless with no Lucas and decided that since Nathan reached out to them, maybe she needed to try again with Brooke. Pulling on an outfit quickly and hopping into their car, she drove the short way to where she had lived just a year ago. Where she went when she found out Luke was going to marry another woman... where she was when she read the book that convinced her that they were still a possibility.

Knocking on the door, she was surprised to not see Brooke on the other side, but a teenage girl instead. A teenage girl with disheveled hair who was obviously annoyed by being woken up before noon on a Saturday.

"ummm...I'm sorry, I thought that Brooke Davis still..."

"Brooke!! There is someone here for you!" Sam yelled, letting her loud voice echo throughout the house. "It's some blonde, pregnant lady!" she then added, knowing that Brooke was in the shower.

"I'll be out in a minute!" she screamed back at her foster daughter.

"Come on in, I guess. She obviously knows who you are... wait I do too."

"Peyton." she says, extending her hand to shake the girl's.

"huh..." Sam says, looking the woman before her up and down with a seemingly rude glare.

Picking up on this look of disdain, Peyton had to comment, "You don't know the whole story...and I don't even know you, so don't give me that look..."

"You left a year ago with some guy that you and Brooke both dated in high school, but you were supposedly the 'one' for him so all was well with that. The leaving without warning... not so much. She called, but you didn't call back. Haley and Nathan called, but you didn't call back. Shit hit the fan while you two were gone, and you just came back a week ago with same said boy, married and about to pop out a kid. And you can't seem to begin to understand why the hell everybody is so bent out of shape that you two came waltzing back into town all happy-go-lucky." Sam rebuts in a monotone voice, with a know-it-all attitude only mastered by the teenage generation.

"Well, that about sums it up." Peyton says, after spending just a split second staring at the girl with mouth agape. She knew that she had messed up, but hearing it in such a way seemed to hit her, and hit her hard. "and on that note, I think that this was a bad idea." she says, getting up to walk out of the house.

"Peyton... don't go." Brooke says to her friend, and then turns to the teen, "you are cranky, so you can go back to your hole that is a room."

"blah blah... that is all I hear." Sam says, turning on her heels and making her way back to the bedroom that Peyton had one time inhabited.

"clean clean... that is all I want before you decide to do anything."

All that was heard was a click of the door being shut and the two women were left to themselves again.

"So, that is?" Peyton asks.

"Sam, my foster daughter."

Peyton's eyes go wide at that, knowing that Brooke had wanted a baby, especially after Angie, but not expecting the baby to be 16 years old and sporting an attitude that was strikingly similar to the two of them when they were growing up.

"One of the many things you missed out on when you guys booked it out of here."

"Brooke..."

"Sam was one of Haley's students, and she had a bad history of foster families down the line. Haley somehow convinced me to take her in, and after a few months of craziness, we both realized that it could work if we just talked to each other. She's really a good kid, and a talented writer according to Haley. We just started working on adoption papers this past month."

"That's really great, Brooke. I wanted you to get that family."

"yeah... well, I love her, and she needs someone."

"You have always been that person Brooke, and you are probably the person amongst us who has grown the most in these past years."

"Lucas said that to me once you know."

Peyton laughs at that, which causes Brooke to raise a questioning eyebrow in her direction, "would you like me to tell you the page number?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Lucas said that you were the person he had seen grow the most in two years of knowing you in his book... that was the page I turned to when I missed you the most."

Brooke bit her bottom lip, and turned away from her forgotten friend, acting like making coffee was the most important thing a person could do in their life. Peyton saw a few tears visible on the cheek of the seemingly unshakable Brooke Davis, and made her way around the counter to the side of her friend, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"What can I say that is going to make this better Brooke? I did miss you. I missed you everyday, but I can't tell you that what happened this past year is something I regret, because I don't. Lucas and I needed this. I wanted you there with me so many times, but it was so hard, and after awhile we realized that it was too late. I never stopped considering you my best friend, and I never stopped loving you as that."

When Brooke looked up and met the teary eyes of her longtime friend, her resolve finally broke, and she pulled Peyton into a long awaited embrace, "P. Sawyer I missed you so much! I needed you, and you were gone, and all I wanted was for you to come in to my room and play your moody music and tell me that it was going to be all right or sit with me and remind me of all the stupid stuff that you and I have done together. God, Peyton, I have spent this last year in such a bad place, and all I wanted was you here... I needed you."

"Brooke, I am here now. Lucas and I are here, and we aren't going anywhere." she says, grabbing the sides of Brooke's face so she could meet her at eye level.

"Tell me something Peyton..." she says, and then continues after a nod from her blond friend, "...are you happy?"

"Brooke, I married the boy I love, I'm having a baby, and I'm finally home with everyone else that I love... I am more that happy..."

A few tears fill her eyes as she looks at the smile across Peyton's face, "That's all I wanted for you, for you to be happy."

"The only thing that we regret is not having you guys there with us... to celebrate everything."

"We did celebrate for a while... knowing that you two had finally gotten your heads out of your asses and realized that you were supposed to be with each other after all. Then it got too hard to celebrate, and we just wanted you home. We needed you home."

"Brooke, you have to tell me what happened here... even Haley and Lucas aren't speaking. And you know that isn't right. And for her to not come over the second she found out that we were back and we were married just proves that something went down."

"tell me about it..." she says, not in a sarcastic way, but as a question to the woman now sitting on the couch next to her, as they moved from the kitchen to sit in the living room.

"What?"

"You and Luke... the wedding."

"He gave me his mom's ring."

"The one that he gave to Lindsay?"

"Yeah, but he assured me that it was always only meant for me, and after their engagement, he sent it back to his mom... who then sent it back inscribed with the words True Love Always."

"Karen always did have a thing for the two of you... she liked me... but she always knew you and Luke were meant to be."

"Well, Lucas neglected to tell me about that little tidbit regarding the ring, and I discovered it one day... he told me the story and I told him that I wanted to get married the next day."

–

In Charlotte

–

"Peyton, you know that we can wait. We can wait until we decide to go back to Tree Hill... we can have everyone there."

"I want that Luke, I do... but can't this just be you and me for once. Just us. Just this moment?"

He looked at his soon to be wife, standing in front of him in a white dress she bought just that morning, with her hair in long curls, pulled back with a few pins, and realized that he would be amazed by her forever.

"If that is what you want, then that is what I want...let's do this." he says, linking his arm with hers as they walk up the steps, and into the building where they would get married.

A short hour later, and they were back outside the building, nearly sprinting towards the parking lot, in formal shoes and all.

Reaching the car, she breathlessly whispered his name and he pulled her to him, "Peyton, I love you."

"I love you to Lucas... I do."

"So, when we get back to Tree Hill... you think Brooke is going to start calling you P. Scott?" he says, trying to make a joke of their current situation. They were hours from home, they just got married, and no one knew about it.

Though Peyton knew it was meant to be a joke, it hurt her still. Thinking about their family and their friends, and knowing that they wouldn't get to share this moment with them made the happiness wane for just a few seconds.

With a finger under her chin, he drew her eyes upward, causing her to smile that smile that he fell in love with, and making them both realize that what they had done was the right thing, because it ending with them as husband and wife.

It was later that night, their wedding night, that Peyton started to laugh. At first it was just a giggle, which caused Lucas to take pause, seeing as it was just after a few excursions of the bedroom variety. Then the giggle turned into a laugh, and he turned to face her with his head propped up, leaning on his elbow.

"Would you care to enlighten me Mrs. Scott?" he says with an amused smirk on his face.

"Oh Lucas... this is so messed up..."

"What do you mean?"

"I said no to your proposal, you got engaged, you got stood up at the altar, you fell into a drunken stupor..."

"Hey." he says, slightly offended by the crack at his more depressing moments.

"I call it how I see it babe... then you call me from the airport and we run away from our childhood home, our friends, our family... you propose two weeks later, we have a two week engagement, and we just got married."

"and...?"

"Lucas, seriously! Even in soap opera land, that has to be some twisted plot..."

"If our life was a TV show, then yes, but it isn't Peyton, it's just us."

"Well, then we are some messed up individuals."

"Regrets?" he asks, knowing that a great part of her was joking, but the joke was coming from the other part of her that secretly missed what was waiting for them in Tree Hill.

"Only that they aren't here... your mom, Haley, Nathan, Brooke. Couldn't you just see them sitting in the pews of some church all shouting 'I told you so' after we said 'I do'?"

"Sadly, yes, I could, but that is why we are here... we know that they believed in us, and in what we had, but we needed to believe in us."

"I know that, but I can still wish, right?"

"You can do whatever you want Peyton, and I'll love you forever..."

–

Present Day

–

"I would have loved to have been there. Finally seeing the two of you come together."

"It was definitely a sight to be seen... Lucas actually shed a few tears."

"Well Broody was always the emotional type, and I'm sure you looked amazing, so that doesn't surprise me at all."

"Are you mad Brooke?"

"That I wasn't there... not really. It is more of a sad kind of feeling, but I understand that... it's just..."

"We weren't here." Peyton says, knowing that is exactly what her best friend was thinking at the moment.

Brooke silently cursed whoever as Peyton read her like any best friend could read another. That was something that they loved at one time, and came in quite handy many a time, but in that moment, she didn't want Peyton to read her, she didn't want everything to come back to the surface.

"The week after you guys left, I was attacked..."

"Brooke!"

–

Okay, I am sorry that I haven't updated in so long. You have to love it when life happens, right??? So now I am updating a little bit. I hope that you liked this chapter. I didn't want to get too into the details of the wedding and I didn't really want to get into too much of what happened to everyone else, but that is all coming in time, I promise!


	5. Can't Face It

"It was the night after you guys left, and I thought it was someone that Victoria had hired, but it turned out to be a misguided act of someone else."

"Did he..."

"No. It stopped before that."

"Brooke, I'm so sorry..."

It was in that instant that a wave of emotions hit her, a wave that had been waiting to break since the second that she saw her best friend at the counter of the store. The fear she had of everything coming back to the surface was reigning true, and she knew it was going to end badly.

"No... you don't get to say that you're sorry Peyton." she said in a calm voice through clenched teeth.

Peyton was confused by the sudden onslaught of anger that shone in Brooke's eyes as she stood up and threw daggers with her words.

"I could barely walk. Nathan and Haley had to take care of me for weeks because I wouldn't leave the house! Jamie wouldn't come near me for a month because he was afraid of the bruises, and then after I had a panic attack and almost hurt Haley he screamed that he hated me and wouldn't speak to me for another month. I locked them out. I was depressed... Then when Quentin died..."

"Fields?" Peyton said, recognizing the name from the many conversations with Haley she had right before they left, and the few run ins with Lucas when he was coaching the team.

"Shot during a gas station robbery. It was funny though, because I pulled a gun on Victoria because I thought she did this... when it was the same man who shot Quentin that did this to me." she said in a voice that seemed eerily distant.

"Brooke, I don't know what..."

"Don't say anything... just tell me why... do you have any idea what the hell went down here Peyton?"

"How did we get back to this, Brooke? We were just having a normal conversation, and now you're biting my head off!! And no... I don't know what went on here, because NO ONE WILL TELL US!!! You guys are all avoiding Lucas and I like we are the most horrible people in the world! We needed time... and now you are screaming at me because..."

"Don't you dare try to play the victim here Peyton!"

"Do you think that what went on with Lucas and I was all perfect? Do you think that we just left and everything magically fell into place the second we decided to finally be with each other? Well, it wasn't Brooke... okay... shit happened to us too. How the hell are we supposed to work through any of it if we don't talk about it?"

"It was too soon, Peyton."

"I can see that now...I'm going to go."

When she arrived home she found her husband sitting quietly on the couch with his first novel opened in his hand. He sensed her immediately as he always did, and didn't turn as she walked in and sat down next to him.

"How did we change so much? How did we go from these people to what we are now?" he says, shaking the book in his hands for emphasis.

She didn't say anything, but put a hand to her stomach, let out a sigh and rested her head on his shoulder, reading over the words that were on the page.

_High School is only four years, but I can say that those four years can change you. In each of my friends I found a different piece of me. In Peyton I found the ability to really love someone. In Haley I found the strength to get through everything. In Nathan, the brother that at one time I hated, I found the feeling that comes from having a family to count on. In Brooke, I saw the ability to change for the better, because she made me become a better person._

_It was the past two years that have changed me the most, getting to know these people that matter to me more than anything. They have certainly changed me for the better. I make it my life's work to make sure they know that every day._

"I failed them... even you..."

Peyton takes the book from his hands, and rests it back on the coffee table, sitting up and turning to face him.

"Lucas you did not fail them. We are going to fix this, and we are going to make up for this. They know deep down, that we never meant to hurt them when we left. And as far as I'm concerned, you could never fail me Luke... never."

"Peyton, I left you in a hotel room in Los Angeles after you told me you wanted to wait to get married. I convinced myself that you were saying no..."

"Baby, I forgave you for that a long time ago, and now we are here. Don't you dare think that I hold what happened against you still. We need to hold on to what we have now, and we need to help them realize that we are here. They are the reason we came back Luke. You told me that there was no other way you would want this baby to grow up, and I agreed with you one hundred percent."

"What if it doesn't turn out the way we hoped?"

"It has to." she says, rubbing circles against the kicks she was feeling.

"Did you talk to Brooke?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Did you talk to Nathan?"

"Sort of...we just need to keep talking, I guess."

"Yeah..."

"I'm going to get some dinner started... do you want to help?" he asks, getting up and starting towards the kitchen.

"I need a minute." she says, looking up and only meeting his eyes for a second.

"Peyton..."

"It was just an emotional conversation, I'm fine."

"You need to lay down for a few hours. I'll wait on dinner."

"No, Luke, it's okay, I just..."

"With everything that happened today, I can't do this Peyton." he says, shaking his head.

"I'll rest for an hour and see how it goes."

He looks at her with a skeptical glance, but kisses the top of her head and leaves her in the living room. He knew that another fight about this wasn't going to do either of them any good.

After their dinner, she read in bed as he worked on his latest novel. Her gasp didn't go unnoticed by him and he was up and by her side before she could call him over. "What is it?"

"Nothing, it doesn't hurt, so it's fine."

"I want you to go in tomorrow."

"All of the records haven't been shipped out yet, and you're leaving for the day, so I'm not going." she says, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting just a bit like a two year old.

"Peyton, those are both stupid excuses, and I can cancel my trip up there, it is just to talk about the next book, and that's not even done yet."

"No, Luke, you need to go."

"Then you'll make an appointment with the man that Dr. Kennedy recommended?"

"If it will get you off my back, then yes." she says, a little angrier than she intended it to be.

He goes over to his laptop, closing it quickly and turning of their bedside lamps. Crawling in bed with her, he sighs as she turns into him and lays her head on his chest.

"We aren't going to be doing this much longer, cause that kid is starting to get big." he says, chuckling a bit at the sight they must be.

"Please don't remind me how fat I'm getting."

"Peyton, when you turn around, you look the same as the day I met you. It is all baby, and the second you pop that kid out, you'll be back in your skinny jeans, so don't worry."

"yeah, from your mouth to God's ears."

"I sure hope so..."

"Luke..."

"Bed Peyton, we need sleep."

The next morning came and went in a rush, and by the time she had woken up Lucas had already set up a doctor's appointment for her, gotten his stuff all packed for the day and taken a shower. When she walked into the kitchen he had breakfast ready and a smile on his face.

"The smile needs to go." she says, still feeling sleepy after the long day she had.

"I can't help it. I'm a happy man. A beautiful wife, a baby on the way, and a third novel almost ready to go."

"Yeah, well I've got a kid sitting on my bladder, I can't fit into the last pair of maternity pants that I bought, and I'm not allowed to have caffeine, so shut up."

"Well well well... someone is cranky."

As she sat down, she looked up at her grinning husband, and couldn't help but crack a small smile in return. "I'm sorry, I just hate the days that you have to go to New York, and you don't seem to be phased by it at all."

"Oh I am, but I know that I'm going to talk to you on the phone almost the whole way there, and I know that you are going to call me the second you are done at the doctor's office, and I know that I'll be back tonight."

"Are you sure you aren't just excited to go see Lindsay?" she asks, not meeting his eyes, and hearing the stupid insecurity in her own voice as she speaks the words out loud.

"Peyton, you can't be serious..."

"Forgive my hormones... I know that you'd rather be here with me."

"Yes, I would," he says glancing at his watch, "but the shuttle leaves in just a little bit, so I've got to jet out of here. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm tired, but I'm good. How about I just call you after the doctor and then I talk to you all the way home tonight?"

"Sounds good... I will see you two later."

With a kiss to his wife and a rub to her ever-expanding stomach, Lucas was out the door and Peyton was left in the silence of their home.

It was in these moments that she always took stock of everything that she had. She was doing well with the label, her and Lucas were finally her and Lucas, and her happiest accomplishment was safely inside her. Her little girl.

Anna Elizabeth Scott was the name she already had picked out for a girl, and what Lucas didn't know was that she had already found out the surprise. They said that they weren't going to find out, but when issues started coming up, she pulled the doctor aside to find out what the little Scott would be. She wanted to be prepared for anything.

A short hour later, she was out the door and on the way to the hospital.

It had been a long time since she had been in the hospital at Tree Hill, but the place held plenty of memories for her. As she stood at the directory trying to find where she needed to go, a familiar figure walked by, causing her to do a double take of sorts.

"Haley?" she asks to the woman who seemed to be frantically running in the door.

Haley turned and instantly, Peyton's face fell. It wasn't the Haley that she knew, sweet smiles and sparkling brown eyes. Her face was pale, her eyes tired, and there wasn't a smile to be seen.

With a look to Peyton and a glance at her stomach, all she could do was run, hoping to make it to the bathroom before the breakfast she had this morning came back at her.

All she could think of was the last time she was in this position, losing the contents of her stomach as she cried out to whoever could listen.

–

While They Were Away

–

"Haley?" Nathan said, knocking on the bathroom door.

After getting no answer from his wife, and hearing nothing but quiet, he gently pushed open the door to a sight he had never seen. She was broken in more ways than one, and he didn't know what to do.

"I can't do this Nathan... I can't"

"Hales it is fine... he's going to be okay, and we're going to get through this, okay?"

"I think I'm pregnant." she blurts out, before quickly turning to continue the emptying of her stomach.

All he could do was hold her hair back, and then when there was nothing left to come out, he sat with her as she cried for everything that was happening to them all at once.

"I thought that it was stress making me late, and then I just pushed the thought aside, but I'm pretty sure that I can't make an excuse for this."

"I know that it is hard right now, but we can do this. Maybe this baby is something that will help us along the way... you know?"

"Nathan, I can't think about another child when Jamie is..."

"I know, but you have to take care of yourself or you aren't any good to either of them." he says, pushing the hair out of her face and stroking the side of her cheek gently. "Now get ready, and we'll make a pit stop on the way back from the hospital. Maybe it is just stress."

"And if it isn't?" she asked as tears threaten to spill again.

"Hey, Always and Forever, right? No matter what, we'll make it...I promise."

She nods before slipping of her robe and starting the shower.

Confident that she would be okay for a little while by herself, Nathan found himself rummaging through his pants pocket from the day before. Finally, he gripped what he was searching for and dialed the familiar number that hadn't gotten much recent use.

Of course, all he got was voicemail...

"Dammit Lucas, you need to pick up your phone. Get back from wherever the hell the two of you are and start being there for your family. Haley needs you and I can't get through this shit without you. So get your head out of your ass and come home before you don't have anyone or anything to come back to."

He didn't even bother closing the phone, but opted to throw it against the kitchen wall instead, shattering it to a million pieces.

–

Present Day

–

"Haley, are you..." Peyton asks, finally stepping behind her in the bathroom.

"Don't." she says, without turning, "don't talk to me. I can't face it Peyton, I can't face you right now. It's too hard for so many reasons."

"There's obviously something wrong Haley, can I help you?"

She turns then, her eyes lighting up with a fire Peyton had never seen before, "Can you help me... ? You ask me that now?!"

"Haley, we never meant to hurt you guys, you have to know that."

"I do know that, but the fact remains that you did Peyton. You and Luke left with a note and then dropped off the planet... and you want to help?"

All the women could do was stand there and stare at each other. Peyton's eyes held nothing but guilt and regret, and Peyton feared what she saw in the tired eyes of the woman she once knew.

"I hate you. You left us. You took Luke. Then you come back here, the two of you, as happy as can be, not realizing that we went through hell while you were gone. You can't take that back Peyton. You can never take that back."

"Haley James Scott, you are one of the strongest women that I know, and one of the best friend's that I've had. We never meant to hurt you, but we are here now. Whatever you are going through right now, we are here for you. Please let us back in. Whatever you can't face. We need you now just as much as you needed us then."

She couldn't reply to that, but stood and walked away, leaving Peyton to just process and try to figure out what could change someone so much.

–

Okay, so I realize that piecing everything together so slowly is about to kill you all, but as I'm reading my favorite fics, I'm realizing that is what I like most about them. They don't jump right into it, you know?

So, yeah... any thoughts on what I'm doing? I have also decided that the flashbacks aren't going to be in chronological order... but you'll eventually get it all. If I forget to fill in a gap, let me know!

I hope you're enjoying it!

And if you haven't checked it out, you NEED to go over to Southern Gothic Productions to check out Hilarie Burton and Kelly Tenney's production company.

southerngothicproductions .blogspot .com

and BUY A T-SHIRT!!!!


	6. Walls Crumbling

There are moments as a friend. There are moments as a family member. These moments occur when someone is trying so hard to push you away for the wrong reasons, when they are really screaming inside for you to help them. As Peyton stood in the bathroom, she realized that what just happened was one of those moments, and she didn't care about the ramifications, and she didn't care about getting yelled at again, but she was going to make sure that Haley was okay.

She walked quickly out of the bathroom to try and catch a glimpse of her former friend and new, at least to her, sister-in-law, and caught her getting into the elevator. Thankfully she had boarded alone, and with a small pause, Peyton was able to glance up and see just what floor her friend was going to.

As she stepped out onto the floor, she noticed a change in the patients she had encountered before. The eyes were without luster in most, and it seemed like a novel of unspoken words clung in the air. It was the Oncology floor. Suddenly, she had to steady herself against the reception counter as she recalled Haley's tired, disheveled appearance that was so unlike her, and everything seemed to snap into place.

Cancer.

A word that Peyton was too familiar with, and a word that she herself had feared pretty recently. Thoughts of finding Ellie flooded her mind, and tears clouded her vision when a small voice cut through the noise of her mind.

"Excuse me miss, can I help you?", the nurse asked, with a look of concern probably brought on by the fact that she had just witnessed a very obviously pregnant woman clutch the counter as her face went white.

Then it was the moment of truth, a decision to be made. Should she go comfort her friend, or should she wait until her friend came to her for the help that she wanted to give?

"I saw Haley Scott come up here, but lost her after the elevator."

The nurse gave her a look of sadness mixed with confusion, most likely because she had never laid eyes on the woman before her.

"I'm her sister-in-law..."

"Oh, I see! She went down to the room. We had to move things around, so its 412 now, and not the usual place."

"Oh, okay, thank you..." she says, letting a small amount of concern wash over her as she realized that there was obviously a lot of time spent in this hospital.

Walking down the hallway, she noticed a shift in the mood. It seemed cheerier, with brighter walls and more people roaming about. Maybe this was a good sign... maybe Haley was actually doing better than she thought if they moved her down here.

However when she glanced through the window, what she saw caused a rise in emotion that she had never experienced before. She turned around, needing to lean up against something as the tears instantly came to her eyes. As she clenched her eyes shut to get rid of the queasiness she was feeling a hand rose to her shoulder and she opened her eyes to a familiar face.

"You can't tell Lucas... Haley doesn't want him to know..."

All she could do was sob. Sharp, hiccupping sobs racked through her body as she clung to him. They were sobs of guilt, of heartache for the moments that they missed when they selfishly left the year before.

"I'm sorry... If we would have just answered one... God... I'm so sorry... We didn't know... Oh God..."

"It's okay. It's going to be okay."

"Is it?" she asks, asking a question not about the relationships broken, but about the outcome of what was in that hospital room.

"No... probably not..."

"Nathan."

"Peyton, how did you even know that we were here?"

"I saw Haley in the lobby when I came for my doctor's appointment" she says, glancing at her watch, "which I am now extremely late for."

"Go then."

"Nathan, I don't want to leave you here."

"Peyton, this is a well organized dance that we have done for the last 6 months. We're pros at it."

"But you shouldn't have to go through this alone..."

"...and when my wife comes to her senses and talks to your husband, we won't be. Besides, Brooke has been a big help through everything..."

"What if it's too late?"

"There are other things going on here Peyton, things that I can't share. Haley is going to need a lot of space. Especially from you."

"She blames me."

"For Lucas?" he asks, and she nods in response. "No she doesn't. She blames Lucas for Lucas."

"Why is she so angry with me right now if she doesn't blame me?"

"You guys got everything you wanted, and we're watching everything we wanted get slowly taken away from us piece by piece."

"Nathan..."

"You have to get down to your appointment, or you are going to get your butt kicked, and my little nephew or niece is going to come out with two heads...Go."

"Why are you the only one who isn't screaming at us?"

"Don't get me wrong Peyton, I hate what happened here. I also understand the desperation of what the two of you did, leaving like that. I'm past being angry, because my energy needs to be somewhere else right now." he says with a finality that elicits just a nod from her before she turned back down the hallway.

Hours later, after not hearing from his wife, a concerned Lucas opened up his phone to call her.

"_Hey."_

"Hey yourself. Why didn't you call me after the appointment?"

"_I wasn't really feeling up to talking right then, so I decided to come home and veg for a little bit. Are you on your way home?"_

"Peyton, what happened? You don't sound like today was the best day for you."

"_Nothing. Everything was fine."_

"...and what are you not telling me?"

"_Luke, I promise you that everything is fine. The doctor said that the move caused a bit of stress, and he told me that I need to get more sleep, and that should keep everything calm for a while."_

"I know that we came back here for the baby, but if all this drama--"

"_We are NOT leaving again. We can't do that to them. They need us." _she says, adamant about staying where they said they would.

"Peyton, it's not like they miss us or anything. Haley still won't talk to me, and based on the reaction I got from you last night, Brooke won't be dropping by to hang out any time soon. Nathan seems to just tolerate me, and is always focused on something else when we are together, and what kills me is Jamie. They won't even bring him by to see us, and I don't know if he hates me or not. We could pack up and leave tomorrow and they wouldn't even know we're gone."

"_Luke, we need them. You need them. And whether or not they want to admit it, they need us too, which is why we have to stay."_

"You're right..."

"_Aren't I always?" _she says, laughing a bit into the receiver.

"I love you."

"_I love you too, baby... now get on the next train and come home."_

"I will probably be back by 10, but don't wait up for me."

"_Okay, dad..."_

"Hey, doctor's orders, right."

"_Sure.... oh... you know what there's a knock at the door. Chances are it is Brooke coming back to scream at me again. I'll see you when you get home?"_

"I'll see you tomorrow morning...."

"_Lucas..."_

"Peyton..."

"_Fine... tomorrow morning... I love you."_

Repeating the words back to her, he shut off his phone, with a small hint of worry knit in his brow. She had said everything was okay, but he could tell in her voice that there was something wrong. He hoped to God that it didn't lead to another terrifying moment.

–

While They Were Away

–

Nine months had flown by for the Newlyweds, and they couldn't be happier where they were. The only thing missing was the family that they had left behind, but neither brought up that subject, for fear of starting another fight with the other.

It had become a sour subject, thinking about going home. When one wanted to, the other seemed to think that it was a horrible idea. When the other decided that it was indeed time to share their news with friends, the time they had spent away was brought up and the subject was dropped. They never agreed on their positions about when or if they should ever get back to Tree Hill.

Peyton had been absolutely glowing all evening, after having finally gotten over the morning sickness of her first few months of pregnancy. She was happy, she was excited, and Luke couldn't be happier knowing that he had a part in all of it.

When they got home that evening, she had been incredibly tired, saying that she couldn't shake a funny feeling that she had. She took it as the nausea not being totally out of her system and chose to change into her pajamas and get into bed for the evening.

As Luke came into the room, he caught a glimpse of her sleeping form, peaceful and beautiful, and growing more and more beautiful every day. He changed out of his clothes and decided to settle in with a book before going to sleep.

Realizing that he had left the book that he was currently reading in the living room or their small apartment, he got back out of bed in search of it when he heard her.

It was a faint cry of his name that struck him in a bad way, so he quickly made his way back into the bedroom to see her sitting straight up in bed clutching her chest and gasping for air.

"Luke...can't...call...."

"Peyton! God!" he says running to her and trying to figure out what the problem was.

"Ambulance..."

He reached over her to grab his phone and continued to stroke Peyton's hair as she was still trying to catch her breath. The operator was talking to him, but he couldn't focus on the words she was saying, not wanting his eyes to stray from his wife, still trying to calm her.

When the knock came to let the paramedics in, he ran.

"It's my wife. She's gasping for air, and she can't talk to me right now."

As they tried to get a response from Peyton, they tried to ask Lucas more and more questions, that he wasn't even comprehending. It was all happening too fast, and he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"She's pregnant. 14 weeks today. She said that she was really tired when we got home tonight, and said that she had a funny feeling, but we thought that it was just the morning sickness coming back."

They tried to calm him down while strapping the small blond to the stretcher in front of him. It was then that her slipped shut and they couldn't get a response anymore. It was then that his world seemed to be collapsing around him.

–

Present Day

–

After hanging up with Lucas, she made her way to the door expecting to see Brooke, but surprised to find Haley standing on her front step.

"I don't want Lucas to know yet." she says, with her eyes downcast.

"Nathan told me that, and I really think you need to talk to Luke, Haley. He has a right to know."

"The right to know went away over a year ago, Peyton."

"We're still family... and we want to be there for you."

A thick, uncomfortable silence seemed to settle in the area around the door. Haley couldn't meet her eyes, but seemed enthralled by the rings Peyton toyed with around her finger and the stomach protruding out from her tiny frame.

"Which is why I'm talking to you."

"You can't even look me in the eye Haley."

As Haley took in the words, she lifted her face with tears forming in her eyes, "because it hurts too much."

"I know..."

"No... you have everything now."

"Don't give up—"

"You can come down to the hospital if you want."

"Haley, it's not my place, it's Luke's."

"Of course it's your place... you're his Aunt."

–

Okay, so there you have it.... were you expecting it? I think that some of you were, which I'm okay with, because I'm okay with being predictable sometimes. Anyways, I hope that you are enjoying this, and I would love to hear your feedback. What do you want to know about? What was your favorite part?

Anyways, review review review, because I really do enjoy reading what others have to write about the story. And... go to southerngothicproductions .blogspot .com and get your Southern Gothic T-shirt to support our favorite Peyton actress, Hilarie Burton!


	7. Sixty Forty Kind of Guy

Seeing the small boy lying in that hospital bed struck a nerve with her, as it would have any other feeling person. Now as the word 'Aunt' slipped out of Haley's mouth, the images flooded back with even more emotion attached.

"I'll be there tomorrow...bright and early."

"No...call Nathan and find out when he's coming. You can go relieve him for a few hours. And please don't talk to Jamie about Lucas."

"Haley..."

"Me coming here is for Jamie and for Nathan. It isn't for me, and it sure as hell isn't for the two of you. This does not make everything okay. Nathan needs a break from all of this. It took too much away from him. So you coming in will help him."

"You need a break too."

"That's the brunt the mother bears, Peyton. You'll find that out soon enough, though I hope not in the same way that I've had to. I came here to get you to come to the hospital, but don't think that it's an invitation back in."

Peyton just nods as Haley looks into her eyes once more before settling on the rings she had been admiring before.

It was just before she stepped off the last step that she turned back, again not meeting Peyton's eyes, and with bitterness said, "I'm glad you got what you wished for."

The coldness and bite in the voice she had used caused such a start in Peyton, that it wasn't until Haley had gotten back into her car that she whispered, "We never wished this..."

Once Lucas had finally gotten home, he put his things down in the living room and made his way through the house and into their bedroom, where his wife was very obviously sleeping peacefully.

Since all was well there he moved into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. As he closed it, he glanced at the grocery list that was scribbled onto the magnetic pad placed next to a picture of the two of them in Charleston. The list contained the typical bread, butter, milk, but halfway down the list it said 'I love you' in Peyton's scrawl before going back to listing frozen peas and pasta. He smiled and took a sip of the cool water and then walked back into the bedroom to watch his wife sleep.

–

While They Were Away

–

She was sleeping again, which was odd for the night owl that was Peyton, but the day had been long and she needed the nap. In fact the week had been long, and she found herself waking up each night after hearing the door open from Lucas coming in from his part time newspaper job not realizing that she had fallen asleep.

That was where he found her that night, in bed.

"How was your day?"

"Pretty long."

"That why you're napping?"

"Yeah, it was just a long day, and crap! I didn't even get you any groceries for tonight. I wanted to go to the store, and I made the list, and then I fell asleep. I'm sorry baby."

"Give me the list, and I'll go." he says, getting up, "is it in the kitchen? I can grab-"

"NO!" she says and he steps back for a moment. "I mean, I can do it."

"Peyton, what's up? I can go, it's no big deal."

"Lucas, do me a favor?"

"Anything..."

"Just don't look at the grocery list until you get there..." she says, biting her bottom lip as she always did when she got nervous.

"What? Why?"

"Please?"

"Whatever you say...I'll be back in a bit." he says, grabbing the list and folding it into his pocket.

The second he was out of the house she felt sick to her stomach and ran to the bathroom.

Once he was finally at the grocery store he scanned the list, trying to figure out what his game plan was, always in that coach mentality. Bread. Milk. Lucky Charms. Chocolate Chip Cookies. Pregnancy Test. Cheerios. Frozen Peas. Wait.

"Pregnancy Test?" he said to himself and then it all clicked together.

He got all the groceries listed. Every single thing on the list has been purchased and he felt good. He had a moment in the grocery store when he mistakenly took a turn and ended up in an aisle with diapers and baby food. The moment was a scary one as he realized all that a baby needed, but then the moment was gone when he spied a soft basketball rattle next to something that looked like a plastic funnel that he didn't think he wanted to know about.

When he got home, he wanted to make sure that she knew that he was okay with this, but when he got to the bedroom, expecting to see Peyton still lounging in bed, he saw rumpled sheets and no Peyton. His ears caused him to turn down the hall though, to the bathroom, where he found her, on the floor with a glass of water sitting beside her and her pink tipped toes stretched out in front of her, lights out and a few candles lit.

"Yeah, I'm about 80% sure about this, but we'll take the test anyway." she says, reaching her hand up to get him to help her stand.

Neither says anything for a moment, worried that the other would say something that the other didn't want to hear.

"Well, either way, I'm about 70% nothing but excited about this whole thing and 30% scared shitless."

"Huh... I would have thought you to be more of a 60/40 kind of guy" she says back, allowing tears to finally come to her eyes after the past two days of freaking out by herself.

"Hey... where are these tears coming from?"

"Luke, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, at least not so soon, and we're not ready for this, and I know that you don't want a baby right now, and maybe we should have-"

"Peyton!"

She stopped her rant and looked into his eyes, which were glimmering in the soft light of the candles lit in the bathroom. "If we are having a baby, I'm happy... I couldn't think of anything more amazing than that."

"Aside from a few jokes here and there we haven't even talked about having kids Luke, how can we ignore that fact?"

"Do you want kids?" he asks, starting the conversation that they were supposed to have before getting in this situation.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"I'd love two, but I could be open for more."

"Do you love me?"

"More than anything."

"Conversation had. I want the same things you want... I know that we have over used that phrase, but I do. If this is the everything we hinted at when we were just seniors, then I want it and you have been the only person that I've wanted it with."

"You and Lindsay never..."

"No. We had a scare one time, and I was petrified. Partly because I knew that she wasn't the one that was supposed to give me that. You know me though, the stubborn one... I couldn't bring myself to say that it was you all along."

"Well, you are quite stubborn, but I love you for it."

They stand there for a few moments in silence, him holding onto her in the doorway of the small bathroom. Nine months into their marriage and about to possibly face another rocky nine months of a child.

"So..."

"It's on the counter in the kitchen."

Five minutes later, they were parents.

–

Present Day

--

As Haley arrived back home, she was greeted by a very tired looking Nathan.

"What's wrong?" she asks, automatically assuming that something happened at the hospital.

"Nothing, I'm just tired, but I didn't want to sleep until you got home, I figured that you went to see them."

"I saw Peyton. Lucas wasn't there."

"...and?" he asks, hoping that she had made some progress with regards to letting back in her best friend and brother-in-law.

"She's going to try to start coming to the hospital to visit Jamie. I told her to keep Lucas out of this, and I don't want her to talk to Jamie about Lucas."

"Haley..."

"No, Nathan! The only reason why I'm doing this is because you need a break. You look exhausted and I know that it is all those hours practicing and then having to be at the hospital all the time."

"But what about you Haley!? You need a break too!" he starts to scream. "you haven't slept an entire night since everything happened, and I think that it would lift Jamie's spirits to see his Uncle again."

"No, he doesn't deserve to get another chance with Jamie. I can't risk him getting attached and leaving again. That isn't fair to Jamie."

"But what about not getting to ever see his Uncle again, Haley! Is that fair?! And what about Lucas. He doesn't even know, and he could never see him ali...." he stopped his rant before he could finish that sentence, noticing the way his wife's face had turned.

With a chilling silent whisper, she spoke, never tearing her eyes from his, "Don't you dare say those words Nathan Scott... don't you dare."

"Haley, we have to face it sometime."

"No. We've already done this once this year, I can't do this again."

–

While They Were Away

–

Exhaustion wasn't the word for what she had been feeling these past few months. In and out of the hospital nearly every day with a sick son was taking a toll on her. With Jamie, she hadn't been as tired, but she had also not been under that much stress either, so it made sense.

No matter how much Nathan and Brooke tried to keep Haley away from the hospital, she insisted on staying with her baby boy through all of the tests and treatments that he would endure. It didn't matter that she was seven months pregnant and tired. It didn't matter to Haley at all, but it was taking an unknown toll on her.

They were at home when she started having the contractions. It was all so different from when she had Jamie, but she thought that it was all okay. Jamie was still in the hospital and Nathan was out with Skills at the rivercourt, so she figured she would wait it out for a few to see if the contractions would subside.

A half hour later, her water broke and she called Nathan to get her to the hospital.

It all happened so fast. The intense cramping she was feeling, the blood she didn't think was supposed to be there.

Three hours later, at 7:19 PM, Elizabeth Scott was born.

She was never meant to be though, so just twenty minutes later, Haley and Nathan lost their second child, and Haley hadn't stopped blaming herself for the entire thing.

"Haley it just wasn't meant to be..."

"What did I do? My son has cancer...my daughter was gone before her first breath... What did I do to deserve this?"

"Nothing..."

They held each other for the longest time, needing the comfort found there, until the nurse from Oncology called down to say that Jamie was starting another round of chemo, and was asking for his mom and dad.

Before Nathan stepped away, he turned to his wife, "Do you want me to call Brooke?"

She nodded.

"What about Lucas?" he asked, knowing that it was a hard subject to break.

"Don't bother... he won't come..." she says, looking out the window of her room, "go take care of Jamie, and tell him I love him."

–

Present Day

--

The conversation they had led on well into the night, with Haley forced to face the memories from just a few months ago. The tears were shed, and the two parents, all energy spent fell into a deserved sleep in each other's arms. They felt like there was always tomorrow to fix everything again.

When Peyton woke up the next morning, the weight of his arm around her let her know that he had gotten home safely, so she smiled. Being about six months pregnant, she also had the realization that she had to hit the bathroom quite quickly and slipped out from under his arm.

"You are so breathtakingly beautiful Peyton Scott, do you know that?"

Most women brushed off that comment, automatically saying that they were a whale or refuting their significant others by mentioning the extra person creating an extra five pound on their rear. Peyton was not most women though, and Lucas Scott was not most men.

The two had that connection that no one could ever really understand, and their looks seemed to share conversations that none could decipher. The look on his face when he said those words told nothing but love, so all she could do was smile and crawl back into bed.

"How were all your meetings."

"They want to start talking about a book tour, but I told them that we would have to wait until you had the baby."

"How did that go over?"

"Aside from the wide eyes of Lindsay, I thought that most of them understood."

"Lucas! I thought you had told her everything...that isn't fair."

"I told her about us getting married, and I told her to keep our whereabouts unknown, but that was just a piece of information that I thought she didn't really need to know.... until they started telling me that I was going away for weeks at a time."

"Weeks?" she says, eyes going a bit wide with a frown forming on her face.

"Not so mad at me now, are you?" he says with a small chuckle.

She got quiet for a few moments, with the thought of him being away for so long not settling right with her. As she curled into him a little bit more, she sighed.

"What is going on in that head of yours Peyton?"

"With... everything... I just don't want you to leave. Can you just stay?"

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere, didn't you hear the first part of that conversation?"

Distracted still, she shook her head quickly, "I'm sorry... this pregnancy brain is just killing me. I can't keep anything straight anymore"

"Doctor said you were okay though, right? Everything with you and the baby is fine?"

"The move caused some stress, so I need to take it easy. I'm only going to work a few hours a day for a while... will that make you happy?" she asks, smiling up at his 'I told you so' face.

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Why don't you just work from here? You did it while we were in Charlotte..."

"I want to be in the studio with everyone, I miss that, and I feel like I need to be in that space again."

"Peyton... I can't lose you, you know that."

"Luke, you are NOT going to lose me."

A part of him knew that everything was going to work out, but another part of him was still holding on to the fact that there was the slightest bit of a problem. That part of him won out and made him cuddle his wife just a little bit closer that morning for a few more minutes.

–

I know that you guys are like ready to kill me for the lack of updates, and I'm totally sorry about that, so please don't kill me. Getting uber excited about One Tree Hill tomorrow night, but at the same time I'm feeling bittersweet about the whole thing. I know I get my way, but at the same time, my reason for the show is gone, and I know that there are going to be tears.... lots and lots of tears. So I'm getting the kleenex ready, and I am going to suck it up and watch, and cry... a lot.

Hopefully you enjoy this little chapter of drama from yours truly. Review, cause I love hearing from people!!

Thanks!


	8. Nightmares

The next few weeks were something akin to a nightmare... they all admit it... because the next few days were filled with confessions and tears and fights that they hadn't expected. At least, they didn't think that these things would happen so soon after Lucas and Peyton arrived home.

"Hey, I'm home..." Peyton says, coming in through the doorway to find Luke sitting at his desk working on something new, "How was your game with Skills?"

He didn't look up for some reason that she didn't know at the moment, and that confused her. His eyes held something between annoyance and anger when he did finally meet her confused gaze, "Where were you?"

"I was at the office."

"No, you weren't."

She couldn't lie to him. So, instead, she chose to just stand there, not saying anything at all.

"Where were you Peyton? I went down there to see you, and then I went by Brooke's house, and you weren't there..."

"Why would you go to Brooke's house?"

"She's your best friend, why wouldn't I go to Brooke's house?"

"She hates me right now, and you know that."

"Yeah, well, I thought that I knew a lot of things... but I guess not." he says, cooly.

"Well, don't worry about it." she replies, moving towards the closet and grabbing some comfy clothes to get ready to stay in for the evening.

"I am going to worry about it Peyton! The doctor told you to take it easy, and I find out that instead of sitting around at the office you've been running around Tree Hill all day... that isn't taking it easy!"

"Luke, you don't know what I was doing all day, so back off!" she screams back at him, matching his biting tone.

"Where the hell were you then?"

"I can't tell you..."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I can't tell you..." she says, turning to walk out of the room, leaving Lucas inside to only hear the door slam.

He wasn't a jealous man, and didn't even let a thought cross his mind about her cheating on him. It was more than that. It was sitting in the doctors office four months ago, learning that Peyton and the baby were a bit more fragile than they thought.

–

While they were away...

–

"This just means that you have to take it easy... you can't do anything that gets your heart rate too elevated, or you're going to have these issues again."

"Is this condition genetic?"

"Yes, which, combined with Lucas' HCM, is something that we are going to test for right after the baby is born."

"I've never had any heart issues before, and I..." Peyton says, grabbing for Lucas' hand as the tears threaten to fall.

"The baby grows a lot in the first few months, putting a great deal of strain on your body. When your heart gets over worked, it just starts to pump faster. Your condition makes it fire incorrectly, causing it to palpitate at an inconsistent rate. Heart palpitations can cause shortness of breath and a feeling of unsteadiness, which is what you experienced last night. You told me that you two had been at the park all day and shopping. It was too much."

"So what does this mean for later on in the pregnancy?" Lucas asks, fully ready to put Peyton on complete bed rest and not let her leave his sight until the baby was born.

"When you feel tired, you need to rest. If you feel short of breath, you need to stop what you are doing. If it gets anywhere near what happened last night, you need to come to the hospital."

"Childbirth?" Peyton finally says after they take a few minutes to digest everything that the doctor is trying to tell them.

"There is a great possibility that you will not have this baby naturally. Labor is an intense experience for the body, and probably the greatest workout known to man... which is why we are going to monitor you closely as you get farther along. When you go into labor, we need you in the hospital immediately."

Sensing the urgency in that last statement, Peyton cautioned to ask, "What are the risks to continuing this pregnancy?"

Lucas looks up at this, not understanding exactly what Peyton was asking, "What? Peyton..."

"I won't end it, but I have a feeling that there is a greater risk here, and I want to know what it is, so we can be prepared."

Turning to her, "Peyton, you're going to be fine, and the baby is going to be fine."

After a minute of looking into his pleading eyes, she turns again, facing the doctor, "What are the risks?"

The doctor takes a deep breath, knowing that what he is going to say is going to change everything for the young couple before him, "There is a great risk of maternal death during labor. If we don't have you monitored right off the bat, your heart might not be able to take it. Even with the monitors, there is a careful balance at how things are going to be approached."

–

Present Day

–

They knew where they stood... as far as best friends were concerned, there were some issues and some reservations. As far as brothers were concerned, it was the same deal. However, Nathan had been more accepting for some reason of everybody's situation.

Peyton found herself on the doorstep of the person she had always turned to, the person who was always waiting for her in the end, and she knew that there was a great chance that this was going to be the first time she would be turned away.

Knocking a quiet but steady knock, she waited for the door to open and reveal the woman she still considered her best friend.

"Peyton..." Brooke says with a caring tone that she hadn't used towards her in a long time, and certainly not since they had returned.

That was just what she needed to break down, "Brooke... I know that you hate me, but I..." she starts to say, letting the tears fall down her face.

"Come on, let's get you inside." she says, pulling her inside by placing her arm around Peyton's shoulder.

As they sit down on the couch in very much the same way as the night that Peyton had found out that Lucas had proposed to Lindsay, it was as if the past year didn't happen. They never left. Nothing was wrong, and the universe was perfectly right again. It never worked that way.

"What's wrong Peyton?"

"I have to tell Luke about Jamie... Brooke it's killing me..."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't lie to him, and tonight he knew that I hadn't been at the studio, and he was so angry with me."

"Where did he think you were? What could he possibly think that you were doing?" she asks in a soft tone, not understanding Lucas' freak out.

"It's not that..." Peyton says, not meeting her eyes.

"Then what is it?"

"It's the baby." she says, sitting up and resting a hand on her stomach.

"What do you mean?"

"I told you that it wasn't all roses after we left either, and this was a thorn that we hit along the way."

"He doesn't want the baby?" Brooke asks, completely confused, and fully knowing that a family is something that Lucas Scott had wanted all his life.

"No, it's... we found out that there was potentially something wrong."

"Okay... define potentially and define something, cause I'm not getting it."

"There is a great chance that I could not survive the pregnancy because of a heart condition that we didn't know about."

If Peyton Sawyer ever had a doubt about the friendship she shared with Brooke Davis for all these years, that doubt was shattered the instant those words were out of her mouth. The silent tears made their way down Brooke's face as she looked into the eyes of the only friend who was always there. She placed a hand cautiously over Peyton's resting on her stomach, emitting a small sob as she does so.

"It's okay, Brooke, it's going to be okay."

"Peyton, this is not okay... God!" she says, quickly getting off the couch and mumbling to herself about not being able to deal with this again.

"Brooke, what are you talking about?"

"That's why Haley doesn't want to be around you, Peyton. She was pregnant after you guys left."

Her eyes were the picture of confusion thinking about Haley and then thinking about when she saw Haley, and how Haley was very obviously not pregnant. Of course, that was when realization hit, and her eyes went wide, watering with tears.

"Elizabeth... it was a little girl. Pre-term labor, probably brought on by all the stress from Jamie. It just happened a few months ago..."

While Peyton was forced to find out a bit of what happened here while they were gone, Lucas had to deal with the same, leaving for the river court to do some thinking after he realized that Peyton was not coming back to chat with him any time soon.

A few minutes after he arrived, his brother walked on to the court.

"Don't you have a wife now?" he says, joking.

"I sure hope I do..."

"What'd you do?"

"Who are you to say that _I_ did anything... maybe Peyton did something." he says, pointing at his brother who got a 'Yeah right' face on the second he started blaming Peyton. "... I was an ass."

"Well, what's new then?"

"Funny..."

Nathan waited, trying to silently encourage his older brother to share what was going on between the two of them.

"Peyton was out and about in Tree Hill today instead of at her office where she said she was going to be all day."

Nathan straightened up for a moment, knowing exactly where Peyton was when she said that she was at the office.

"Well, did you ask her where she went or why she left the office?" he tries to reason.

"She said that she couldn't tell me... aren't we supposed to share everything! And that isn't even the issue here, and she doesn't get that!"

"If that isn't the issue, then what is?"

He then tells Nathan exactly what Peyton had told Brooke, instead taking the stand point of a man that could lose his wife. He was of course shocked, but then sympathetic towards his brother. It was killing him that he didn't know what Peyton had been doing all day, and frankly it was killing Nathan to not tell him where Peyton had been. He broke then, not wanting to continue the stupidness of this omission.

"Jamie is dying."

"What?!" Luke says after recoiling from what felt like a slap at his face.

"Leukemia... a very aggressive type."

"I..." he says, but drifts off as he bends down to grab onto his knees in an attempt to steady himself, "when did you find out?"

"About three months after you guys left... and then we thought that it was one kind of cancer, but we were wrong, and it turns out that it was a lot more than what they originally thought."

"And we didn't answer our phones... we didn't check our voice mails...how are you even standing here talking to me right now?" he says, in complete disgust of himself.

"You're my brother, Luke. No matter how much we go through and how stupid we are... I'm always going to love you and be there for you."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Haley didn't want you to know. She's so angry at everything the world has dealt us this past year, and you weren't there to help her through it."

"What does this have to do with Peyton..."

"Peyton found out a few weeks ago when she saw Haley in the hospital. Haley came to the house a told her that she should go see him, so she has visited every day since then."

"That's where she was today?"

"Yeah."

"Does he know that I'm back?"

"She wouldn't allow Peyton to talk about it, and she certainly won't let us talk about it either."

"So, Peyton can go see him, but I can't."

"I want you to, Luke, I do. Haley isn't going to be happy, but you are a great uncle, even though this year was something entirely different, I know you love Jamie."

"I do."

Nodding, Nathan saw this as the time that the conversation was over. Their tales were shared, and as Nathan left, he turned back around to face his brother, "Tree Hill hospital... Children's oncology... he's in room 343. Visiting hours are 9 to 9."

As Nathan walked to his car, Lucas glanced down at his watch, that proudly glowed that it was just eight o'clock.

He grabbed the basketball that he had been using and grabbed his sweatshirt and headed over to his car, preparing to get into it and drive straight to the hospital.

Instead, he drove home, passing Brooke's on the way and seeing Peyton's car in the driveway. He stopped, walking up the path to knock on the door.

"Luke..." Brooke says in a quiet voice after opening the door to see him with red eyes and a tiredness about him.

"I need my wife, Brooke."

She nods, ushering him in the door and over to Peyton on the couch in the living room asleep.

"I'm glad she fell asleep." he says, watching over her.

"She needs it."

He looks over to see the girl he once loved and his wife's best friend all over again. She shares that same look of love and adoration that passes through his eyes when he sees Peyton again and again. This time, however, there was a look of fear in the twinkle that he also knew all too well.

"She told you..."

"It's going to be fine." she says, hoping that her voice is confident enough to convince the powers that be what they need to do.

"Yeah..."

"Don't be mad at her."

"You knew..." he says without a hint of accusation in his voice.

"Yes, I did... and Peyton just found out, so don't be mad at her about that either. Haley came to her after Peyton ran into her at the hospital."

"I know, Nathan told me... and Brooke...thank you."

"For what?"

"For taking care of them, watching after them... being a good best friend to Haley."

"Lucas, you are still the person in that spot, she just can't see that now."

"Why did we let it get this far?" he asks, not knowing exactly what 'it' was.

"Maybe five years down the road we'll realize that this was all worth it... you know? All the heartache, and the crap that we've been dealing with. Maybe it makes us stronger?"

–

While they were away...

–

"Sam!"

The teenager sulks into the kitchen with a scowl on her face, "What do you want?"

"I just need you to be here! I know that you went out last night and you didn't tell me about it, and then you snuck in this morning like nothing happened." Brooke says, with an accusatory stare at the young girl sitting before her.

"So, if you knew that I was doing it, why didn't you say something?"

"Because that would have made you more pissed off than you are on a regular basis, so I just assume avoid it."

"Well, thank you for the thoughtful consideration." she says in a monotone voice that always seems to aggravate her foster mother.

It was then that she notices it... the pause of just a moment when Brooke looks at the calendar. Her face goes from annoyed to heartfelt to sad to livid in what seems like just a second. When she turns around to meet Sam's eyes, they are the picture of broken, but she only just catches it before Brooke turns again.

"What's with the date?" she asks, knowing there was obviously something up with that date in particular.

"It was my best friend's birthday." she says, after a long moment of consideration.

"Was?... Did she die?"

"She might as well have..."

"Care to explain that drama?"

"Nope." she says as if it is the be all end all of the conversation.

"Come on! You know all sorts of things about my past, isn't it only fair that I get to know about some of yours?"

"You have not shared with me _any_ of your past sans when you stole from my clothing store six months ago."

"Okay, fair is fair.... My dead beat mother gave me up... I know who she is, because I looked it up, but she has no clue that I exist here in this town. I was dumped from foster home to foster home, with a great majority of them homes where I got the crap kicked out of me by either the parents or other kids. I've tried the homeless thing... now I'm trying this out... satisfied?"

Clearly, she is taken aback by the whole monologue just put in front of her, confused as to how to respond, she just sits, unblinking.

"Now is where you tell me what's up with you and the date on that calendar and your so-called best friend."

"She left... with a guy who I dated in high school, and who has become a great friend. He is Haley's best friend and Nathan's brother. We have been rooting for the two of them, Lucas and Peyton, since high school... minus the time that I was dating him of course. He was an idiot and thought that he would marry someone else, but when she finally saw what we saw..."

"Which was?"

"That no one can come between the epic romance that is Lucas and Peyton... when she realized it, she left him at the altar. Nearly a month later I get a note from Peyton saying that she was taking some time for herself, and Haley gets a note from Luke saying the same. We have a hunch that they are together, but we don't know."

"It's your best friend... how can you not know?"

"Now you see the issue..."

"How long have they been gone?"

"About six months."

"And you haven't heard from them at all?"

"Nope... and they won't answer voice mails or e-mails either. Which is why today is bittersweet. I want the two of them home because I want to celebrate Peyton's birthday with her, but at the same time, I'm so pissed that they cut off all contact with us that I could give a shit if I ever see her again."

"You don't mean that."

"Yeah, I do."

"Brooke, trust me about this... you should hold on to the people in your life that have seen you through it all. I don't have those people, and look what it did to me..." she says, half-joking with the last statement, that causes Brooke to start to protest, "... all I'm saying is that maybe when they get back it will be worth it. They will get what they wanted, you'll get what you wanted, and you guys will be stronger than ever. Going through a bunch of crap always makes you stronger."

–

Okay, I'm sorry that I haven't updated this fic in awhile... you know how life happens. But I picked it back up, along with working on my other two fics that are currently in progress. I hope this was worth the wait, and there is certainly more to come!!

REVIEWS are cool!!


	9. Fixing It

She woke that morning confused and exhausted, because she didn't remember being driven back to their house. Opening her eyes, she searched for him and found just an empty side of the bed.

"Luke?" she calls out quietly.

He comes in carrying some breakfast for her, setting it on the desk before coming to sit beside her on the bed, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"I should have told you...."

"No... Haley didn't want me to know, and I get that. I was worried about you though, and I let that trump everything. Nathan told me last night."

"Nathan came and talked to you?"

"I was at the rivercourt after you left, and he saw me there... he knows about everything with the baby, and he told me about Jamie." he says, getting a bit choked up at the thought of his nephew.

"I can't tell you that it's going to be okay, but I think that it's time that we get ourselves back to normal again... come with me to the hospital today?"

"Peyton, Haley...."

"No, Luke, it's okay. Nathan told you about it, and I only go when Haley isn't there. I won't go when she's there." she says with a finality that he didn't understand.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want her to be upset."

"She already is upset, Peyton..."

"Did Nathan tell you everything?"

"I think he was just sticking to the important stuff..." he says, with a sarcasm saying that there couldn't be anything more to tell.

"After we left, she got pregnant... the baby was born too early... she doesn't want to be around me, and I don't blame her... I don't want her to have to deal with that."

The look of disbelief that came across his features was something that broke her heart, but she knew that he had to know everything.

He stands up then, walking over to put on his shoes with a determination that she hadn't seen from him before, and then turns to walk out the door.

"Lucas, where are you going?"

He turns back for just a split second to acknowledge her, "To fix it."

It was early when he pulled up to their house, but he could care less about the timing of things. The door was always open, and that was something that he was counting on, knowing that he probably wouldn't be welcomed with open arms by his best friend and sister-in-law.

When he walked in, he heard someone in the kitchen and walked in quietly, taking in the picture before him. He didn't know how he could have missed it when he saw her before. She was too skinny, her moves lethargic, her spirit taken down.

"Haley..." he says quietly.

She turns slowly, not even attempting the fight of last time, but acknowledging his presence in the room. The look in his eyes instantly told her that he knew everything, and that alone was enough to send her walls crumbling. She didn't have the strength to keep it any more.

"You know..." she says, not as a question, but a statement.

He had spent enough time away from her to know that he had a lot to make up for. He spent enough time being her friend to know that she needed him. So, he crossed the distance to her, wrapping his arms around her and whispering her name into her hair as he held her tight. She protested for a minute, fighting the embrace of his arms, pushing at his chest and punching at his back.

"It's okay..." he says as she hits him, repeating it like a mantra softly into her ear.

"No!" she cries out, finally allowing herself to be held by him and sinking to the floor with his arms still wrapped around.

"It's going to be okay..."

"Where were you.... I needed you... I needed you..." she says desperately, the cries coming out loud enough to send Nathan running into the kitchen.

When he sees his brother on the kitchen floor with his wife, he silently thanks God or the powers that be for finally making them come to their senses. The only man aside from him that Haley ever needs is Lucas. He has never minded it, until Lucas wasn't there and he had to try to pick up the pieces by himself. Not wanting to break up their moment, he left as silently as he came.

After about twenty minutes of just letting her sob on his shoulder, she sat back up against the bottom cabinets, and looked at him. "I needed you Luke."

"I know. I'm sorry. You don't have to let me back in, Haley, I get that. I get the idea that you could hate me for the rest of my life. But I'm going to be here regardless. I want to help with Jamie. I want to help with you and Nathan. I want you guys to be a part of my life. Even when we were away, you were still with us, Haley. You were the voice inside my head for everything."

"Then why didn't you call? Why didn't you come back after you guys got married?" she asks, not in an accusing way, but as a way of getting some facts clear in her head.

"It was too hard for us. We wanted to see if we really were the Lucas and Peyton that everyone thought that we were."

"And..."

"After a few weeks of consistent fighting, we realized that we were."

"So a few weeks and you knew... but you stayed away, Luke."

He shakes his head, blaming himself for everything that happened while they were away. "I know...and I will not ever be able to tell you I am sorry enough."

"No, I should be sor--"

"No! You don't get to apologize Haley... you didn't do anything wrong, and you need to know that right now. We should have been here. Once we figured it all out, we should have come back. It was... it was just easier to start fresh. Peyton and I had way too much of the past to let go of."

–

The first week away...

–

"The second book is on its way out." he shouts at the bathroom where she is taking her shower.

"Really, that's great Luke!" she shouts back.

Coming out of the bathroom, she notices him sitting there staring at his phone, and peeks over his shoulder to see what he's so mesmerized by. Of course, once he realizes that she's there, he hides the phone from her eyes.

"Lindsay?" she asks, regarding the text message of someone saying how much they miss him.

"Yeah..."

"huh... when did she send that?" she says, with a bite to her voice that certainly doesn't go unnoticed by him.

"A few minutes ago, after she talked to me."

"Oh..."

She stands up and gets into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, "Peyton, come on... this is nothing."

Opening the door while pulling on her t-shirt she shouts back, "Nothing... Lucas, two months ago, I watched you say 'I do' to that woman, and then watched you spend the next two months trying to get her back. You call me and ask me to start over with you, and I find you just two days later staring at a text message from _her_ telling you how much she misses, you and I'm supposed to say that it is nothing?!"

"Peyton, it has always been you and me... everyone has said it."

"Dammit Lucas! That's the problem! Can't you see that? What if we aren't really those people?"

"But we are..."

"Says who? Haley? Brooke?"

"Says me... Peyton, I love you!" he shouts back at her.

"I love you too, Luke. But maybe this past is too much for us. Did you ever think about that?"

"No. I never thought about that, because I know that I am meant to be with you. I know I am."

"And that is why you proposed to another woman after I told you that I loved you... and that is why you sped up a wedding to marry _another_ woman?"

"I proposed to another woman because she found the ring that I was still holding on to for _you_ and I couldn't be man enough to tell her that it would never be for her. I sped up a wedding to marry another woman because I knew that if I didn't marry her right away, I would end up back to loving you without you wanting to marry me."

"Oh, God, Lucas! You are such a coward!"

"A coward!?"

"Yes! You're telling me that Lindsay was just because I was _too_ hard for you?"

"No... I just..."

"No, that is exactly what you are saying."

"So, you didn't meet anyone when you were in Los Angeles? Anyone at all?"

She turns then, going back into the bathroom, slamming the door in his face.

"See! If I'm a coward then you are a damn hypocrite!"

Whipping the door open again, she spat back at him, "He left me because of you!"

"What? Peyton, before you came back to Tree Hill, I hadn't seen you in three years!"

"I told you once that every time I see your book, I buy it... well partially because I have to have it with me. I have to have a copy on me at all times, and sometimes I lose them or something gets spilled on them... and then I know that I'll always have a back up waiting for me. Julian... that was his name, and I were going on a trip and he left me because I wanted it in my carry on."

He moves then, going to plop down on the bed, taking in what she just said. After a few minutes, she came to sit next to him, thinking about everything that just happened as well.

"We are a mess..."

"That we are." she says, with a smirk.

"It was us... we were too scared to admit that we just needed each other."

"I really should have said yes..."

"No... I should have said that we could have a long engagement."

"Luke..."

He turns to her then, putting her hands in his, "Peyton, from the first time we spoke and you told me that I didn't know you at all, I think I was in love with you. Yeah, I thought that you were the most beautiful girl in the world before that, but it wasn't until we spoke that I knew. Through all the crap that we've been through, together as friends, separate as nothing, together as lovers, I have never _ever_ stopped loving you."

"Me too..."

It was finally the end of the first of many fights that they had that week, but that was still the one that stuck out to him the most, them finally admitting that maybe they needed more time than they thought that they would.

–

Present day...

–

"Are you happy now, Luke?"

"With Peyton, yes... I couldn't have asked for anything more. With myself, no."

"You can't blame yourself either, Luke."

He considers that for a moment, letting it process as he takes in her defeated posture, staring down at the floor.

"Well... I'm going to for a while... that way _you_ can stop blaming _yourself_."

She smiles for the first time in what seems like months, and pulls him in for another hug as she starts to cry again.

"So, talk to me Haley... what do we need to do? How can we help him. How can I help you?"

She stands up quickly, trying to distract herself with meaningless chores as he watches her move through the kitchen. He knew that she was trying to avoid talking about it, trying to get him to drop the subject entirely, but he wasn't about to do that... not after completely avoiding it this long.

"Haley..."

"He's not going to make it..." she says, and then lets out a sharp breath as she clutches to the counter. "The next round of treatment is a long shot, and after that, if it doesn't do anything, then he's gone."

–

A few weeks ago...

–

"Mrs. Scott, this is very experimental. There is just a small chance that this is going to work, so I don't want you to get your hopes up at all."

"You said that even if he doesn't completely turn around, that it will still prolong his life?" she asks hopeful.

"By a month... two at most..." the doctor says with a doubting air about his voice.

"Haley..." Nathan says, placing his hand over hers where it rested in her lap.

"No! Nathan, I want to try it."

"This is it though... Haley... we can't do any more... I won't put him through this anymore."

She looks between Nathan and the doctor before finding her voice again, "If it doesn't work... then what do we do?"

"We keep him comfortable, and we wait."

"Is he going to know what is happening?"

"He's still too young to really understand what is going on with his body. As long as we keep the pain away, he'll go peacefully."

As she nodded while he was speaking, she tried hard to swipe at the tears that were falling quickly down her face.

"I'm going to give the two of you a minute..."

Once the doctor leaves, she crawls into his lap, much like a child needing comforting.

"Nathan, I can't do this. I can't do this again."

"Haley, what little time he has had on this earth has been great. You and I made sure of that. We will be okay... it will take time, but we will be okay."

–

Present Day

–

She didn't expect the phone call that she did, but Nathan called her, and told her that she should come down to the hospital to sit with Jamie for a while.

When she rounded the corner, and say Nathan and Haley looking in on their son, she stopped, worried about Haley's reaction towards her after finding out what happened. But seeing Nathan's eyes smiling at her from down the hall assured her that it was going to be okay.

"You both should spend time with your nephew..." Haley says as she approaches.

Her words surprise Peyton, as she turns to look in the hospital room and sees Lucas sitting with a smiling Jamie.

"He looks really good today."

"Yeah, I think he needed Lucas back... he needed both of you back."

She doesn't say anything, just waits for Haley to continue, as she looked like there was more that needed to be said. "Peyton, I am happy for you guys... I am. There is a lot that I'm still working through, and I keep sinking back down. But I want you here."

Peyton takes her by the shoulders, turning her to look her in the eye, "We aren't going anywhere else."

And then it seemed like just another part of the wall crumbled, as Peyton took Haley in her arms, letting the woman cry a little on her shoulder.

–

Okay... so I know that this was a total downer chapter, and I know that there were a few moments while writing that I, myself got a little teary eyed. I just... I needed that drama for you, and I wanted it to seem real. I hope that nobody felt it forced or too dramatic. I hope you liked it.

Anyways... Review, cause this is a chapter that I don't know... I really liked writing it, and I value your opinion.


	10. Getting Back

The week following was hard. Unbearable even, as they waited to see any change in Jamie. All had not been forgiven, but the little boy's excitement at having his uncle back was a bit contagious, and everyone seemed to be getting past the fact that they were gone for so long.

"So, I'm going to have a cousin?"

"You sure are."

"How long?"

"We've got another few months to go, but the baby will be here soon enough." Lucas says, smiling at the boy before turning to his wife.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" he asks, still excited and curious about the idea.

Lucas looks to Peyton then, smiling also at his excitement, and frowning as Peyton seemed to be catching herself before saying, "We don't know yet. We're going to wait until the baby's born."

"Sweet!"

"Yeah." Lucas says, not convincing before turning his attention back to his nephew.

A few minutes later and Nathan was walking in the door to visit his son.

"How's he doing?" Nate asks his brother.

"He looks good today, but the doctors haven't come in and said anything yet."

"Okay, good to know."

"All right, well, we'll get out of your way then," he says, standing up quickly and moving to hug his nephew and say goodbye.

After Peyton did the same and they began walking out of the room, Nathan calls back out to them, "Hey, what are you guys doing tonight?"

Peyton and Lucas look at each other with the question and shake their heads, "Nothing."

"Why don't the two of you come over for dinner tonight?"

"Are you sure that's..."

"Haley was the one who suggested it, actually. Brooke and Sam are going to come too, so it will be just like old times."

Lucas smiles then, "We'll be there."

"Good."

That night arrived and it seemed to be nothing but nerves as the two of them prepared to go over to the Naley house for dinner with their family and Brooke.

Getting in the car, Peyton finally spoke of the obvious nervousness, "This is ridiculous, right?"

"Going over there?"

"No, the fact that we are about to have dinner with your brother and best friend and my in laws and your my best friend, and we are about to puke."

"That is pretty ridiculous..."

He started up the car after this, making the short trip to Nathan and Haley's house, and pulling in the driveway to just sit for a minute.

"So, how do we navigate this?" she asks finally, after they sat staring at the house.

"Well...it isn't like we haven't been seeing them almost every day, Peyton."

"Yeah, but Jamie has always been there to serve as a buffer. We didn't have to worry about saying anything, cause he said it all for us. Now there isn't a Jamie buffer, and it is just us."

"Well, Brooke's foster kid is going to be there, right? She'll be a good buffer."

"Yeah, she hates me just about as much as Brooke does."

He turns in the car, putting a hand on either side of her head and pulling her in for a kiss to calm her nerves.

"Peyton, it is going to be fine. We're going to be okay, and I think that this dinner is a step in the right direction for once since we got back."

"You're right..." she says, smiling, and then turning towards the back of the car as she sees Brooke pulling in behind them. "Here we go..."

As they get out of the car, Sam and Brooke do the same, mumbling their hellos as they walked up to the front door of the house.

"So that was the one you were in love with... huh... not really your type..." Sam says, under her breath, but loud enough for the three adults to hear.

"Sam!" Brooke says.

"What!? Just thinking out loud."

The adults meet eyes nervously and choose to then look at the ground until the door opens and Nathan welcomes them in.

Brooke obviously being a regular at their house automatically throws her purse and jacket down and makes her way to the kitchen to help Haley with whatever she needs, while Lucas, Peyton, and Sam stay back with Nathan who takes them into the family room to chat before dinner.

"So, did you guys hear any more from the doctor?" Lucas asks, hesitating, but knowing that it was a common ground for them to talk.

"No, they didn't have any results when we left for the night, but said that we'll know some things by tomorrow mornin."

"How's Haley doing?" Peyton then asks, starting to understand the idea of motherhood and not being able to comprehend what it must be like to be in such a position.

"Day by day is really all that we are doing. We don't want to get our hopes up, but at the same time that is all that we are trying to do."

"Jamie seems good though." Lucas adds.

"Yeah. He's the only one who doesn't know exactly what is going on. He was confused from the get go with all the tests and things that they were doing on him at the time."

–

While they were away...

–

"Jamie, come on buddy!" Haley calls out to her son.

"I don't get why I have to go to the hospital. I'm fine now."

"I know you are, but I also know that you haven't been feeling very well for a while. You know how you told me that you kept getting sleepy?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we are just going to make sure that everything is okay with you. That's it."

"Okay." he says, shrugging his shoulders and pulling out his DS to play for the car ride and the waiting room.

When they arrived at the doctor's office it seemed like they waited forever before the bubbly nurse came out to get them. After listing all of his symptoms and the issues that were coming up the doctor asked just a few more questions.

"Is there any history of any illness in your family like diabetes or heart problems?"

"My husband's father and brother have HCM, but we had Jamie tested when he was a baby, and there weren't any problems that came up. Both sides of the family are pretty healthy aside from that."

"Okay. And what about any other changes that have happened recently? Have you moved to a new area or has Jamie switched schools?"

"His uncle moved away a few months ago... almost three actually." she says with a far off sound quality to her voice.

"Do you miss your uncle, Jamie?"

"Yeah, Uncle Lucas was awesome... but he and Aunt Peyton left."

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"Umm... his godmother was actually recently attacked and has been dealing with some severe depression. There have been a few incidents with that, but nothing that we felt needed attention. Jamie usually talks to us about something that is bothering him."

"All right then." he says, making a few notes and turning to Jamie. "What do you think, Jamie?"

"I don't know. I think I'm fine, but my mom says that we have to get checked out."

"Well, moms usually know the best for us. My mom still yells at me to do things like eat my vegetables and exercise."

"Really?"

"Yup. But she said that you've been really tired."

"I guess so."

"Is it hard to fall asleep?"

"No... I just want to do it all the time."

"Well, we are going to find out what is wrong with you then, little man. But to do that, we are going to need to take some blood from your arm."

"Why?"

"When we take the blood, we are going to put it through a whole bunch of different machines and they will be able to tell us if there is anything weird going on in that body of yours."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, it is pretty cool." the doctor says laughing.

"How long will it be until we get some results?" Haley asks, smiling down at Jamie and how at ease he seems with the situation.

"A couple days usually, but I'm sure that he's just coming down with something and his body just wants the extra rest to fight it."

"Okay."

A few days later, of course, the doctor called for more tests.

–

Present

–

"He's a pretty cool kid." Sam says smiling at Nathan.

"That he is."

Lucas and Peyton acknowledge the teen for the first time since they all sat down, "So, Sam, how is it living with Brooke?" Peyton asks.

"Good, actually. She feeds me, she talks to me, she doesn't let me get away with too much."

Peyton raises her eyebrows at this, recalling what Brooke was like as a teenager.

"I know... opposite of what she was like."

"Oh, honey, opposite of what all of us was like. Well, except for Lucas and Haley. They stood untarnished until me, Brooke, and Nathan came along."

"You weren't too bad, Peyton Scott, you just liked everyone to think you were." Lucas says, leaning in to kiss her on the forehead.

"Luke is right. I'm pretty sure that Brooke and I hold those trophies." Nathan says, laughing.

"What trophies?" Brooke says, coming into the family room to get everyone for dinner.

"They were just talking about the rowdy days of your little clique here."

Brooke blushes for a moment, recalling all the things that she wants to make sure that her foster daughter doesn't do.

"I told you once Samantha Walker, you are not going to end up like me..."

"The you that we all see right now is pretty amazing, B. Davis." Peyton says, in such a sincere way that has Brooke looking back at her with a smile.

The six of them sit down exchanging small talk about Lucas' second novel being published and the third one that he is currently working on and Nathan's basketball. They are all safe subjects until the youngest of the group asks an innocent question.

"So, Peyton, when is that kid popping out of there?" Sam asks.

"Sam..." Brooke says, as everyone stops to look at Haley for a moment.

"No... it's okay. I want to know too. When are you due, Peyton?" Haley says, dismissing everyone's concern.

"Just a few months, April 30th."

"Spring babies are nice... at least you don't have to spend the last months of your pregnancy really hot or anything like that."

"Yeah, it has been a blessing."

"What are you having?" she asks, seeming okay with the conversation.

Now it seems like all the attention in the room is on Peyton, as she yet again, hesitates with the question, before answering, "Oh, we didn't want to find out yet."

"I could understand wanting the surprise... We were going to wait with Elizabeth too, but Nathan insisted that it was going to be a girl and I insisted that it was going to be a boy... so we needed the bet solved."

"I think that day was the only day that I ever won anything against you...It was good news."

"Yeah..." Haley says, allowing herself to look back a moment.

–

While they were away...

–

"It is a girl." the tech said as she ran the doppler over Haley's stomach.

It was the first time that they allowed themselves to smile about everything. Jamie's treatments had been going pretty well, and she was into the second trimester of her pregnancy and feeling pretty good.

"I can't believe that I was right!" Nathan says, smiling down at his wife.

"_You _ can't believe that you were right, _I_ can't believe that you were right. I was sure that we were going to have another boy."

"Well, I win." Nathan says, leaning down to kiss his wife.

"Yeah, once in your life, you win."

Pictures were printed and Haley was left to get dressed and come out when she was ready, to set up her next appointment.

"We've got to call Brooke!" Haley says.

"No way! The second she hears that we're having a little girl, she is going to go crazy and have the kid's wardrobe planned through high school."

"Nathan, she has made a lot of progress the past few months, and I really think that this is going to give her something to look forward to.... please??"

"Fine, we can call her in the car on the way home."

"Do you think that Jamie's going to be excited to get a baby sister?"

"I think that he is just excited about being a big brother in general, no matter what the kid actually is."

"You're right."

Nearly the second they get into the car and seat belts are put on, Haley is whipping out her cell phone to call Brooke with the good news. However, as she goes to dial her friend, someone else dials in instead.

"Hello?"

Nathan listens to the one side of the conversation with intent, not knowing who she is talking to.

"This is she."

"Okay."

"What does that mean?"

"How can...?"

As he listens, he notices her voice growing more and more silent next to him, and chancing a glance in her direction sees the tears flowing down her cheeks. Pulling over, he turns his attention to her as she finishes the conversation.

"When do we need to start that?"

"Okay, tomorrow...that would be fine."

"Thank you." she says, ending the call and shutting her phone quietly.

She sits for a minute, staring out of the windshield, not really thinking about the fact that they have stopped and are sitting on the side of the road in Tree Hill.

"Haley?" Nathan says quietly, taking her hand in his.

"It's not working... they have to try something else. It's not working."

–

I'm soooooo sorry that I'm taking long getting updates to all of you. I know that this chapter was Naley heavy, so I apologize, but there are going to be some interesting Leyton scenes coming up. Remember that this is all about the drama. If you want no drama go read my One Year fic, cause that isn't drama, but plenty of fluff. My other stuff.... yeah... drama... I still loooooove when you read it though. I'm also trying to respond to people when they review, so I'm working on being better at that. So, review and keep reading. I'm already getting ideas for the next chapter for this fic, so I'm excited about it. I hope that you all enjoy!

Reviews are cool!!


	11. Working on Getting There

In the span of a few minutes, the whole room's tone seemed to change, with Nathan and Haley remembering that day that they found out about their daughter. Brooke knew what that meant, but the rest of them just waited, knowing that there was something else wrong.

"Um... excuse me for a minute..." Haley says, wiping at her eye before standing up and walking away from the table.

The rest of them sat for a minute, not knowing how to navigate the situation, and then it was Nathan who spoke. "I shouldn't have said anything..."

"You weren't thinking about that..." Brooke says, putting her hand on Nathan's from across the table, "I'll go..."

"No." Peyton says, standing up from the table as fast as she could with her protruding stomach. "I'll go. You have all gotten to... I just... I need to do this for her."

Brooke settles back into her chair and Nathan meets Peyton's eye with an encouraging look.

She finds her in the bedroom, facing the outside wall, leaning up against the bed, and in tears. When Haley looked up, she barely acknowledged Peyton's presence, except for to try to stop her sniffling.

"You drew the short straw, huh?"

"Haley..." Peyton says, maneuvering herself onto the floor next to her.

"You realize that you aren't going to be able to get up from this floor now, don't you?" Haley chuckles, and Peyton laughs with her for a moment, and then waits. Everyone knows that Haley needs time to process. She always has and always will, so they sat for a few moments before she started to speak.

"The same day that we found out that we were having a little girl, we found out that Jamie's treatment wasn't working."

"Bittersweet." Peyton says simply.

"The definition of."

"Haley, I'm sorry about all of this."

"Peyton, what do you have to be sorry for? Did you give Jamie cancer? Did you take Elizabeth away from us?"

"No, but..."

"I know that I've made you and Lucas out to be the bad guys. I know that I've been blaming the two of you, but I also know that all those thoughts aren't true. Am I mad that the two of you left without a word and never once called to see how we were doing, yes. Am I upset that I didn't have my best friend when I needed him the most, yes."

"And that is my fault."

"Peyton, I know that you like playing the martyr, but I know for a fact that it was Lucas that called you that night from the airport. The thing is, I think what is pissing me off is the fact that you guys are getting everything when everything is being taken away from us."

Peyton had nothing to say to that, recalling that same statement being thrown at her once before. She knew that it wasn't an attack, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel horribly about the situation.

"... and the hardest part about it is that I'm so happy for you."

Peyton's eyebrows rose at this, the first time that anybody really acknowledged that what was happening was a good thing.

"I know that we haven't been welcoming with open arms, but God, Peyton... all we have wanted was for the two of you to get your act together. And now, to find out that you did, and to see everything that you have become for each other. It's amazing. The timing... not so amazing."

"You are the strongest woman I know Haley James Scott."

"Oh really? I didn't know strong women snuck out of dinner parties to cry in their bedrooms."

"Maybe not, but the strongest have the courage to be happy for someone even when their world is falling apart."

Haley nods her head, allowing the tears to form again in her eyes.

"Oh, Haley..." Peyton says, pulling her closer.

"Tell me something Peyton..."

"Like what?"

"Tell me why... after this long?"

"I hasn't been everything that everyone assumes it to be."

Haley turns in Peyton's arms, looking up to see a few tears collecting in her friend's eyes.

–

While They Were Away

–

"Peyton, I can't do this."

"You can't do this! What the hell is that supposed to mean Luke? You can't do this!"

"I just..."

"No, Luke! You sat in that doctor's office and you heard what he said, but did you ever once think of me?"

"What do you mean? Of course I thought of you, Peyton, that is all that I was thinking about! Where the hell is this coming from?"

"Lucas, did you ever think about what was going through my head, though? Yeah, I could lose the baby, I could lose my life, we could lose everything."

He stood in front of her then, taking her by the shoulders, "You think that I don't know that?"

"Luke..." she says simply, dissolving into tears at the realization that he really did understand what this meant.

"I wouldn't get rid of it, you never questioned me on that... you never even suggested it."

"Because I knew that neither of us could live with that."

They stay silent for a few minutes, taking in the thought of not having the baby that was inside of her now. A few months ago when she was rushed into the emergency room everything seemed to come into focus, but as the months drew on, the timeline that was stuck running through their heads couldn't be overlooked.

"I want to go back."

"We grew up there."

"I can't think of anywhere else we could raise this baby."

She turns to him then, taking in his face, which was a mixture of sadness and thoughtfulness at the memories of home.

"A year ago, you told me that it held too many memories, that we needed a fresh start."

"I know that. And we got it, Peyton. We got a fresh start. We know what is back there and we know what we left behind."

"What do you think they're going to say?"

"You mean if they talk to us, right...?" he says, kind of laughing at the situation that they put themselves in over the past year.

"Lucas, if something happens, and if this doesn't turn out the way that we want it to, I want you around the people that we love. I want this baby to have my best friend there, and his or her aunt and uncle and cousin. I want you to be able to read our story and tour Tree Hill, and play rivercourt basketball. I want that... if I'm there or not."

"I want that too."

"Then it's settled?"

"When do we leave?"

–

In the Present

–

"What do you mean if you are here or not..."

"I have a heart condition that made itself known during my pregnancy. The baby is aggreveating it, and as the baby grows, it gets worse. Right now, I'm okay... just a little bit more tired and I can't really do much."

"But..."

"We were told that there was a great possibility that if I carried to full term, I wouldn't be strong enough to make it through labor."

Haley sat for a minute, not able to process the information.

"So, what do we need to do?" she says, sitting up and taking charge of the moment, much in the same way the old Haley would do.

Peyton smiled at that, seeing Haley take on that motherly, take charge attitude that she always had in her. The strength that Peyton loved about her was back.

"_We_ don't do anything... _you _ just worry about getting your son better, and Lucas and I will worry about this."

"Have you told Brooke?"

"She knows, but you know Brooke... and I don't blame her for really not wanting anything to do with me right now..."

Of course, Brooke, being the person she was couldn't just sit and stay away from Haley, and stood at the bedroom door listening to the entire conversation. She understood why Peyton would say thatand at the same time she couldn't understand why she was still acting the way she was... she was mad at herself for what was happening. Come hell or high water, Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer had always been the best of friends. Even when they hated each other, they still cared about one another. No matter what, they always kept tabs on the other, watching out for them, even when they didn't know.

–

While They Were Away

–

"Brooke, where are you going? I kind of need you here..." Haley says, searching her friend's eyes for answers that weren't coming.

"I just have to go out of town for some business, but I will be back in a few days. You don't have to worry, and Nathan is back and I will be back soon."

"Brooke..."

"Haley, it will be fine. Jamie won't even miss me. I just have some things to take care of. Why so needy?"

"I feel like we just got you back, and now your leaving... it just..."

"I know that I was lost for a while there, but I'm back, and I'm fine. I'm going to help you through all of this, and I'm here... well... I will be in a few days, that is."

Haley laughs at the witty comment and throws her arms around her friend, glad to have someone there with her when everything started going downhill.

As soon as she got into her limo, Brooke opened up her phone, dialing her assistant as fast as she could.

"Did you find it?"

"_I did... but not under what you asked."_

"Well, then how did you find it?"

"_I looked under Scott."_

"What?"

"_Do you still want it?"_

"Yeah, umm... just give it to the driver, and I'll be set."

"_Brooke are you sure about this? It has been a while, and..."_

"Millie, I love you, but Haley needs them back, and I need them back. It's time for them to come home."

"_Think of what they are coming home to, Brooke, how is that going to work?"_

"I'll figure it out, just... tell him the address, and I'll talk to you later."

Four hours later, she pulled up outside a hotel in Charlotte, where reservations had already been made in one of her fake names. She didn't want to make a scene before she had to, so she got there, told the driver to leave, and rented a car for the weekend.

Just an hour after she got into town, she drove the short drive to a small apartment outside the city, where she was told Lucas and Peyton had been for the past months. She had every intention of walking up to the door and barging in. She had every intention of telling them how wrong they were in staying away. She had every intention of telling them everything that had been going on and dragging them back to Tree Hill.

Well, you know what they say about good intentions...

They all went flying out the window when she saw them. They stepped out of the apartment holding hands like they were in high school again. Walking to a car that she didn't recognize, he leaned up against her, kissing her before unlocking the door and letting her in.

It was the smile that did it. Right as Lucas pulled away, walking over to his side of the car, she let this small, perfect smile cross her face before getting into the car.

They did it. They were together, and they were happy. It was everything that their friends had all been waiting on for the pair, and they finally had it.

She sat for a few minutes trying to figure out what she should do. She could walk in a tell them a sob story about everything that had happened while they had been away, or she could leave it, hoping that eventually they would come to their senses and come back to their family again.

A few minutes turned into a few hours, just sitting in front of the building thinking through everything, and she had decided. She knew that she couldn't disrupt this. Her best friend had gone through so much so far in her life that it didn't seem fair to ruin it for her now. And in that moment she saw the car pull up again, with Lucas jumping out as fast as he could to run over to the other side. Peyton got out, with that same smile plastered on her face from before and Brooke let herself smile, a tear sliding down her cheek when she saw him reach down and palm the slight roundness of her stomach that she had failed to notice before.

The best of intentions and the worst timing.

–

Present Day

–

"You guys okay in here?" she finally says, coming around the bed to face the women on the floor.

"Yeah, we're okay." Haley says, assuring Brooke, who had been on "protect Haley" mode ever since Lucas and Peyton had come back to town.

Haley stood up, wiping at her eyes to get any lose tears away from her face. Then a smile came across her face as she looked down at Peyton, who had a look of confusion come across her features.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to get up once you sat down there."

Peyton just laughed a bit as Haley extended her hand and then Brooke came to help her up as well.

"You know, Peyton, with all things considered, the pregnancy thing looks really good on you."

"Yeah..." she says, sarcastically.

"Oh please, you turn around and you're the same Peyton from high school."

"and I turn around and I'm you in high school... ha!" she retorts back, earning a smack to the shoulder from Haley.

"How are we?"

"We're working on it..." Haley says to her seriously, with a smile still playing at the corners of her mouth.

"B. Davis?" She turns to Brooke and asks.

"We're getting there too, but don't be thinking that I'm gonna be calling you P. Scott, cause that's a little too weird for me."

"And why is that?"

"Cause you have always been and always will be P. Sawyer to me."

The girls allow themselves another minute before returning to the rest of the group, not knowing what a six year old, a teenager, and two grown men could have possibly found to keep themselves occupied.

They laughed when they found them in the living room in front of a game of Rock Band... maybe things were going to be getting better.

–

All right guys, I'm sorry about the delay in an update for this fic as well as my other two that are currently under construction. It is a busy part of the year for me, so I hope that you forgive me and accept this chapter as my apology to you! It is a bit lighter than the others, but still dramatic, cause I love me some drama. I miss my Leyton now in season 7, so I'm just going to let my imagination to the writing and keep my Leyton as Leytony as ever now that they aren't on the show anymore. Anyways... I also want to give a MASSIVE shout out to smc-27, cause I'm telling you right now... if you don't read this person's fic, you a MISSING OUT!!! So, go check out their page. I have never read a Leyton fic by this person that I did not like... so, enjoy!!

And REVIEW!!


	12. And It All Comes Crashing Down

As the weeks flew by, the bonds that they had started to reform were still growing, thankfully to all involved. All of the worries and all of the emotions had let themselves play out at various points throughout the last two months since Peyton and Lucas had returned, and it seemed like they were getting back to something akin to normalcy.

At least that is what they thought.

"Where are you going?" Brooke asks her best friend as she gets up again from the couch while they are watching a movie.

"I'm just going to the bathroom, don't worry about it." Peyton calls over her shoulder, making her way slowly to the bathroom.

She was tired. More so than usual, but she wasn't going to let anybody know that, not with everything that had started happening that week. And to set things straight, she didn't really have to go to the bathroom, she just needed a minute to herself. It was all becoming too much for her to handle... the upcoming birth of their baby girl, Jamie's cancer not beating the odds, she and Brooke growing back into those friends that they used to be, and this week, Lucas on a book tour. The hardest though, the one that was taking the most out of her was Jamie... a little boy whose spirit had not wavered once.

–

Two weeks ago

–

They were all sitting down in the living room at Nathan and Haley's, after a nice meal, as they had started doing when they had come back. But there was something about this night that didn't feel right, not to anyone, and as they caught Nathan and Haley share a quick glance at each other, they each took a breath.

"So, we've got to talk to you guys about something." Haley starts, and Nathan takes her hands in his, "We got the latest results from the doctors, and... he... he isn't getting any better."

She took another breath as she described what was wrong, and surprisingly held the tears at bay, but with her final statement, that shook all of them, two tears slid down her cheeks, "We're done fighting... he can't do it anymore."

Brooke was the first to break the silence, as she usually was, "There's got to be someone else that can take him on. I'll call around.. see if there is a program somewhere else."

"Brooke, we love you for that, but we can't do it anymore, and neither can he." Nathan says, squeezing his wife's hands and looking over to see how she's taking the sharing of this news.

"It's just time for him, and all that we can do is keep him comfortable and love him."

"What can we do?" Lucas asks after Haley's comment.

"Just what you have been. Having you guys back, and it being the five of us again has meant the world to us, and the world to Jamie. We're going to get through this, I know we will. It's just... It's going to be hard."

–

Present Day

–

As Peyton sat in the bathroom, she went through that night in her head, recalling just how strong her friend had been. She couldn't have done it, she was sure, and it seemed like every day that went by it was getting harder and harder to see what was happening to her family.

When she stood to walk back into the living room, she found her breath shallow, as if she had been running, but forced herself to stay calm.

Then she felt the first clench of her abdomen and had to grab onto the wall for support, causing a loud band to resound through the hallway and into the living room.

"Peyton?" Brooke calls out, hearing the sound and turning to see Peyton leaning against the wall, and then rushing over to her side.

"Call 911."

She nods, running to the kitchen to get the phone and dialing as fast as she can.

When the ambulance gets there, Brooke is forced to try and explain the urgency of the situation, "She's due in three weeks, but she has a heart condition. She said that she was having trouble breathing. Her doctor is... something with an M. Shoot!! She's been going to Tree Hill General"

"Miss Davis, we have your friend, and we are monitoring her and the baby."

"No, you don't under-"

"All you need to do is follow us down to the hospital and call Mrs. Scott's husband... she's going to be just fine."

Frustrated, Brooke whips out her cell phone just as the ambulance is pulling away from the house.

"Lucas."

"_What's wrong?"_

"It's Peyton, I think that she's in labor. She was having a hard time breathing, and then she said that she was having contractions."

"_Did you call an ambulance?!" _he screams into the phone, trying to stay calm, but only being able to picture his wife on a hospital bed.

"I did, and they just got her on her way to the hospital. I'm following behind them right now, so I need you to get here."

"_I'm at the airport in Chicago... I'll see if I can get a flight out. I'll be there as soon as I can."_

"Hurry, Luke."

"_Brooke... I know that we..."_

"Lucas, no matter how much the two of you missed while you were gone, that woman never stopped being my best friend, and you never stopped being my friend. I'm there... you just get here safely and as fast as you can."

"_Thank you."_

He hung up the phone, and looked around him, the world suddenly turning into slow motion as he searched for the ticket counter.

One hour.

He had to wait an hour before getting on a plane, and silently cursed his editor for making him do a book tour. Peyton had insisted that she was going to be fine. She had been feeling pretty good for the past week, so he said that he would just go to a few of the major market cities before coming home.

Now he was sitting in the airport, forced to watch as people threw their arms around one another in greeting, and remembering the last time that he was all nerves in the airport.

–

While they were away

–

He was the only one who was going to know where they were, and it was only because Peyton rarely got a chance to see her father on dry land, and he wasn't in contact with anyone that they knew, so she sent him letters frequently. And finally, one day, he sent a letter back saying that he was flying into Charlotte, and he wanted to see her, asking if she would drive the four hours to come pick him up.

They shared a bit of nervous laughter over that request, wondering what exactly Larry Sawyer was going to say when he found out where they were and all the details that no one knew about.

It isn't every day that you come to see your daughter and find out that she's married and is five months pregnant. Nope, that was going to be interesting.

What was perhaps more interesting, just adding to the situation was the fact that Peyton was unable to come to the airport the day he arrived, meaning Lucas had to go pick up his father-in-law, who didn't know that he had a son-in-law.

The shocker was the smile on his face when he saw his beloved 'Rake Boy'. "Don't tell me that my daughter sent you all the way out here to get me."

"That she did, but don't worry about it Mr. Sawyer."

"Rake Boy, the least I could do is let you call me Larry."

"All right, Larry, why don't we get your bags."

They moved to get the bags and were walking out to the car when Larry asked Lucas if Peyton was waiting in the car.

"Not exactly. She really couldn't make it, but she'll be at home when we get there."

He didn't know what to make of that statement, him using the word home as if it was his as well. Then he was even more curious when Lucas pulled out of the airport going the opposite way of Tree Hill.

"Lucas..." he starts to ask.

"We'll explain in a minute." he says, not even turning to the man in the seat next to him, who had just caught a glimpse of the silver band that adorned Lucas' left hand.

"I have a feeling you've got a lot to explain."

Something about the tone of his voice made Lucas feel like we was sixteen again, trying to save Peyton for her non-existent robber, just to find her dad in the kitchen. They weren't sixteen, and they were far from those teenagers who had been sneaking kisses away from their friends. Or… well, maybe they weren't very far from that, but they were certainly not in a position that would bring shame to either name. They were married and they were having a baby. It's just that no one knew about it.

When they pulled up to the apartment complex, he only got more nervous, pointing Larry in the direction of their apartment and telling him that Peyton was waiting upstairs.

"Just tell me something before I walk up those stairs Lucas…"

He turns finally to meet the eyes of the older man, "yes sir?"

"Is she happy?"

"Yes."

So, with a nod he walks out into the brisk Charlotte air and up to the apartment obviously shared by his daughter and the boy he knows that she's always been in love with.

When Lucas came in after grabbing the bags, he found Peyton and her father sitting opposite each other across the coffee table in their small living room. It was silent. Like, so silent that all you could hear was their breathing, and Lucas didn't want to break that silence. Instead, he opted to sit down next to his wife of not even a year without saying a word.

"So…" Larry says, sitting back in his chair and watching the two of them through squinted eyes.

"Oh, come on dad… that's how you're going to start this? So?"

"Well, you didn't let me finish Peyton… how am I supposed to say anything? You never once mentioned that you were living in Charlotte. You also didn't mention that you and rake boy got married, and I'm pretty sure that I missed that conversation where you told me that I was going to be a grandfather."

"I'm sorry?" she says, letting it come out as a question more than a statement.

To her surprise, he just goes into a line of questioning, asking when they got married, when the baby was due, what they were doing in Charlotte, and all the questions that they were sure they would have gotten if they ran into anyone from home.

"Well, I'm glad that the two of you finally came to your senses, then."

"You're kidding me." Peyton says, eyebrow raised.

"What do you expect?"

"I don't know, some huge speech about us leaving and not telling anybody about all of this. Maybe a dash of you telling us that we rushed things or that you're too young to be a grandfather."

"Well… now that you mention that last part…" he says with a smile on his face.

"Daddy…"

"Peyton, you're happy. And I am sure that you and Lucas have very good reasons for everything that you have done. You've both been kind of backwards in everything that you have done, so this doesn't surprise me one bit."

"Really?"

He was being honest, and that surprised them, but then Lucas thought to the secret that he had kept from his daughter for so many years and realized that he understood the reasons behind keeping some things to themselves.

--

Present Day

--

"Peyton, I need you to breathe for me." The nurse says as Peyton starts to panic a little bit more.

"I am, I just can't catch a good breath."

"We're going to get some oxygen in here and that's going to help, but for right now, you need to try to calm down."

"Come on, Peyton, I'm here, and Lucas is going to be here in just a little bit. You're going to be okay."

"I need him here, Brooke. I can't do this without him."

"You won't have to, he'll get here." She says, taking her friend's hand as someone comes in with oxygen and more tubes and needles.

"Mrs. Scott, the doctor is on his way in, so just hold tight for a little bit and we'll decide what we need to do."

"Okay." She says, nodding at the nurse and then turning to Brooke with tears in her eyes.

"Hey hey, there is none of that right now. I told you that Luke was going to be here. You aren't the softy in this relationship Peyton Sawyer, so don't start this on me now."

"Scott…"

"See! There's the Peyton I know, correcting me like always."

She laughs, squeezing Brooke's hand as she feels another small contraction. The nurse had told her that she was in active labor, but wasn't dilated nearly enough to worry about anything. To be honest though, that was all that she was doing was worrying. It just sank in when the doctor walked in to talk to her.

"Peyton, how are we doing."

"I'm still having a hard time catching my breath and I feel like the contractions are happening faster."

"Okay, I'm going to review the monitor here, and then we need to talk about what has to happen, okay?"

They wait as he checks the tape, frowning as the look on his face changes.

"What's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, Peyton. The baby is fine."

"But…" she says, in hopes that he'll finish the sentence.

"I want to get our cardiologist in here so we can talk about our options. We need you hooked up to a monitor right away."

"What's happening?"

"You may not be dilating quickly enough, but your labor is progressing very very quickly, which is why we need the monitors in here. I know that we have talked about everything, but you are going to have to make some very quick decisions here, Peyton."

"It's always the baby… you know that right?"

"The baby is healthy, Peyton, I don't see anything…"

"It's ALWAYS the baby. She comes first…"

The doctor nods before exiting the room.

"Peyton, what--" Brooke starts, confused by the exchange between her friend and the doctor.

"No matter what happens Brooke, you make sure that they take care of the baby first." She says, turning to the brunette with a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there since she and Lucas had returned.

She doesn't answer, but instead puts her hand in her friend's, determined to be there.

That's when she got the other call… a call that she never expected.

--

Okay, so this was another short little happy update. I'm hoping that you enjoyed it. We shall see how it ends my friends. What am I going to do? Am I going to be evil? Are you going to end up hating me. Am I going to make you cry? You will find out soon enough…


	13. Losing is the Hardest Thing

"What's wrong?"

"_Where are you?"_

"I'm at the hospital with Peyton, didn't you get my message?"

"_No… I didn't. Is Lucas there?"_

"No, it's just me and Peyton. I called Luke, and he's getting a flight back, but I don't know how soon. Why, what's up?"

"_We're upstairs."_

"Oh, okay, maybe you can come down here and help me with her, cause I really—"

"_Brooke…"_ the other voice starts, just above a whisper in a voice so broken that Brooke immediately understood what was going on.

"I'll be right up."

"_NO! You can't leave Peyton, she's in labor!"_

"Haley…"

"_I'm not going to let you leave her down there by herself. You can't do that to her! We'll figure out something. I'm sending Nathan down."_

"Okay, maybe she can break his hand then…" Brooke says, and Haley laughs a small laugh that her friend can tell doesn't reach where it should. It's a surface laugh that is put there to attempt to convince everyone that she was okay. She wasn't okay, she hadn't been for a while.

--

While They Were Away

--

She had been attacked, her pride stripped away bit by bit. Her family didn't want anything to do with her, and hell… her best friend left and stopped caring. And the only people that were left in her life just started shutting her out after a stupid argument. It wasn't worth it anymore. Everything she had set out for was stripped away, and she could care less at the moment.

Someone knocked on the door, and she contemplated just laying on the couch wallowing in whatever the hell she decided to think about had gone wrong. She decided that was best, since everyone hated her right now anyway.

However, she forgot that anyone who was left in her life had a key to the front door, so when Haley stood in front of her, she didn't seem all too surprised.

"Get up."

"Haley, I'm not in the mood for round two with you. I thought that we had enough of that two weeks ago. I'm done."

"Damn it, Brooke, get up!"

The battered brunette chose that moment to look up, and was met with the eyes of a woman who was not angry with her, but with the world. It was something that she was all too familiar with, seeing it in her reflection every day.

"Haley…" she says, cautious and barely finding her own voice.

"I'm sick of you and I'm sick of what you're doing to yourself. I don't care if we fought. I don't care about any of it. Brooke, you survived… you're here right now wallowing in self pity, but you survived! Snap the hell out of it, because I can't have you gone on me right now."

"What do—"

"Lucas left, Peyton left… we are all that we have Brooke, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you just lay there and bitch yourself out. I need someone. I need you. You need me. So, get off the couch, take a shower and put on clothes that don't smell like you've been sleeping in them or boozing in them. Grow up, Brooke Davis, cause the rest of us had to, so you've got to too."

And then she left. She left and Brooke realized that every word out of her mouth was true. She had survived, and she was going to be okay. And, she needed to be there for her friends, because they had tried to be there for her.

Showered, dressed, and feeling better than she had in months, she walked into the Naley house and straight into the kitchen, where she knew that one of the Scott clan would be. It was where she found her, with her back to the door, so Brooke couldn't see her face.

"All right, tutor bitch, I'm here and I'm ready to start fighting back. Are you happy?"

Haley turns without a word and instantly Brooke was at her side, wrapping her arms around her friend.

"Haley, what's wrong…"

"It's Jamie… it's… God, he's just a little boy."

That was the day that Brooke Davis turned herself around. Nothing was going to get the best of her, and she wasn't going to let anyone take anything away from her friends.

--

Present Day

--

"You're kidding me, right?"

"She started feeling like she couldn't breathe, and then the contractions started… how's…"

"We don't know how this is going to go down, but he's not good right now. There's a chance that he won't make it out of the hospital again."

"I thought that he was doing better."

"He was, but that's the thing with this. It'll beat you when you least expect it."

"Nathan, you should be up there, not down here."

"Brooke, he considers you an Aunt… you're his godmother. We can take shifts for this, it'll be okay."

"Well… she's going to be hell for a while in there, so be prepared."

"We dated, I know how bad she can be, trust me."

"I'll be back down in a little bit, okay?"

"Don't worry, I've got this." He says, watching Brooke walk away and walking into Peyton's room.

"Nathan? What are you doing here? Where's Brooke?"

"We…uh… we came cause of Jamie, but Haley's upstairs and Brooke just went up to visit with him for a while. It's okay."

"No, you should be up there."

"Well, when my lunatic brother shows up, he can take over here, but until then, you'll just have to settle for the handsomest Scott."

"Oh, really? When _is_ Jamie going to come see me?"

Nathan laughs, as she meant him to at the silly comment, but then his face loses a little bit of the color that it once had.

"Nathan, go back upstairs."

"It's fine, Peyton, we can handle it."

Of course at that moment a contraction decided to rear its ugly head, forcing her to stop all train of thought and grab for her brother in law's hand.

"This SUCKS!"

"Aren't you all drugged up and stuff? Jeez Peyton, you're gonna break my hand!" he says, cringing as she waited out the contraction.

After it passed, she finally let go, and he shook his hand out dramatically as she looked on with a sarcastic eyebrow quirk in his direction.

"Haley didn't scream near that much, and she didn't almost break my hand… you need better drugs."

"I wish I could get some, but right now, they aren't letting me have anything because we're waiting on some heart issues."

"I know that you've told us about all this, but level with me Peyton, what's going on?"

She took a deep breath, his question forcing her to take a step back and think about what could actually happen that night.

"Worst case or best case?"

"Why don't we start on a high and end on the low note?"

"Best case, me and baby Scott are fine and I'm good to go home right after she's born." She says, smiling, wishing for that best case scenario.

"And…"

"Worse case, is that none of us get to go home. Second to the worse, is that the newest Scott gets to go home…but…"

"How likely is it that one of those last scenarios is going to happen?"

"Nathan…"

"Come on Peyton, you've never once lied to me, and I can see it in your face."

"The odds are stacked against us."

"That hasn't stopped you or Lucas before. What makes you think it'll stop you now?"

She smiles a small smile, thinking in her head that he was right. They did beat the odds time and time again, but this time it didn't seem like she was going to get through it.

Twenty minutes later, Brooke comes back down telling Peyton that Lucas' flight was on its' way to Tree Hill and relieving Nathan to go back upstairs to be with his son.

"What's going on up there Brooke?"

"I don't know… I just… I don't know how much longer that little boy can take any of this."

"Could this baby have any worse timing?" Peyton chuckles as she reaches for Brooke's hand.

"Did the doctor come back in?"

"Yeah. They're monitoring me right now, and if I don't start to have this kid in the next few hours, they're going to do a c-section."

"Okay."

"Yeah…either way, this little girl is making her way out tonight. God, I just need Lucas here though."

"He'll be here, Peyton, he's on his way."

The tears start to come now, big fat tears, making their way down her face in such a way that even he best friend has never seen, "I need him here… I need to see him again… this can't be it, Brooke."

Then she understood the tears. Even if she hoped with all that she could that Peyton and their child would be okay, that cloud of doubt was lingering. She had told Brooke the specifics of everything that could happen, and Brooke understood the severity of it all, but she didn't realize the weight of it all until she was holding her best friend's hand as another contraction hit her hard.

"Tell me about her, Peyton… tell me about this baby…"

"Brooke…"

"Nope. I want to know about my little pseudo niece, so I can be prepared."

--

While They Were Away

--

"We need to have this talk Lucas, and you know that…"

"No, Peyton, we're not going to have this discussion. We don't know anything right now, so you aren't going to start this with me."

"Lucas…"

"No! I'm not losing you and I'm not losing this baby. Nothing's going to happen, and I'm not letting you talk about it 'just in case' That's CRAP. It's crap, Peyton, and you know it!" he screamed at her, which caused the tears already welling in her eyes to finally spill over for the time being.

"Peyton…" he starts, whispering while holding his arms out to her.

"No! You're a jack ass Lucas Scott, did you know that?" she says, pushing his arms out of the way, and continuing, "There is a great possibility that this baby could come into the world with no mother… they might not even get to know me. Don't you understand that on top of the fact that I know that I would be losing you, I know that I would be missing out on my… our baby's life! You don't think about that! You don't, but I do. God, Luke! Every time I feel the baby kick, I think about what it could grow up to be… maybe a cheerleader or a little basketball player… a dancer… I don't know. Or every time I see someone smile at me when I'm out shopping. That stupid little smile where they're in awe of what I'm about to experience. That stupid little smile that says that they think it is the best thing in the world even though they have no clue who I am. I want to turn around and scream at them! I want to tell them that all those cute little ideas they've got swirling in their heads is a damn lie! You will get everything… the first steps… first day of school.. EVERYTHING, and I hate it! I HATE that there is this cloud hanging there, and all I want to do is to make sure that no matter what, this baby is surrounded by the people I care about, and that I tell you all the things that I want for him or her… and you just—" she screams, her voice getting louder and her tears growing stronger with each passing thought that goes out of her lips.

"Okay." He says, cutting her off, noticing that she's getting too tired to do any of this arguing any more, and wrapping her up in his arms.

"Okay?"

"Tell me everything… tell me everything that you want for this baby, and no matter what, I will do it. If I have to do it alone, I will… but I want you to do one thing for me."

She doesn't say anything, just acknowledges that he spoke with a nod of her head.

"Don't give up yet… We'll plan… we'll talk about everything you want to talk about, but you can't give up on this yet. There is still a good possibility that everything is going to be fine."

She nods, finally giving in to his embrace, and letting her head rest against his chest. As they moved to lay on the sofa together, she remained there, listening to his strong heartbeat as she told him all the things that she wished for their son or daughter, knowing full well that it was a little girl.

--

Present Day

--

"I can't, Brooke, I can't do this…"

"Nope, I'm not accepting that. You can do this Peyton. It's you and Lucas. It's always been you and Lucas, and now this baby needs you."

"Anna…"

"What?"

"That's her name… make sure that Luke knows that I want that to be her name, no questions."

"Okay."

"Brooklyn…" she says, turning her face to meet her friend's. "Anna Brooklyn Scott… she needs some of you in there too."

"Peyton…"

"You're going to fight me on this now?!"

Brooke laughs and then a frown comes to her face as she sees that Peyton is really in a lot of pain.

"I think you need to go get the doctor…"

"I'll do it… Brooke, why don't you go upstairs for a bit?" Haley says, making her presence known from the doorway.

"Haley, you don't have to…" Brooke starts, but motions that she forget about it.

"I know how this is… I've done it… and you, Brooke Davis, cannot handle what is about to happen in this room."

"I can totally—"

"Brooke, let me help my baby niece be born?" she says with a finality that lets Brooke know that Haley was done with the arguing.

"I'll go get the doctor on my way up." Brooke says, nodding after kissing Peyton's forehead and making her way through the door.

"Haley, you really should be upstairs…"

"If my best friend found out that I abandoned his wife while she was having his baby, he'd probably kill me, so I don't have a thing to worry about…"

"But, Jamie…"

"It's okay Peyton, you need this, and Jamie will still be there after this beautiful baby girl graces us with her presence."

Wincing, Peyton clutches at her stomach just as the doctor walks through the door.

"How are we doing in here Peyton?"

"God, I can't do this anymore!" she half-screams at him.

Looking over at the various monitors that she was hooked up to and checking her progress, he decided that it was time.

"What do you mean, it's time? I'm not ready for this… Lucas isn't here… Haley!"

"I'm right here Peyton, and you're going to be fine."

"Make sure that he's okay. God… if anything happens, take care of Luke and take care of Anna… please take care of them…"

"Peyton, you have no need to worry, you're going to be fine…we're watching you right now. You're doing just fine." The doctor calls out to her.

"Haley… please."

"I'm not going anywhere, Peyton…"

"I love him… I love her…"

"I know… come on Peyton… you can do this." She says, with that unwavering strength that was so Haley. It was the Haley that she knew. It was the Haley that could conquer anything and everything, and that made her smile. Because for all the moments missed, this made up for everything.

And it was in that moment… that single moment, when she started to push, Haley at her side that something went terribly wrong.

It was a flurry of activity. Monitors beeping, doctors rushing… hearts breaking.

Then it seemed like as soon as the moment hit, it came to a crashing halt. Everything went white, with tears of joy, tears of unshakeable sadness.

A beautiful baby girl in her arms had Haley James Scott sobbing like a little girl, for reasons more than the beauty of a new life… for so many more reasons than that. And when she caught the eye of another, so familiar to her… she knew… what a bittersweet day it was…

She cried for all the moments they missed, she cried for all the moments that would be missed… and she cried for the blonde boy that didn't get to see the birth of his baby girl or get to hear his wife's voice one last time. She cried for a woman who had become her best friend, who had just lost her best friend. She cried for losing her son at the same time she gained a niece.

--

Okay, I'm crying just sitting here and writing it, so I know that you all hate me right now. I know that you do. But… please don't. I don't know why, but I felt like I wanted to do something different. For once, I wanted there to not be the happy, fairytale ending that everyone seems to write. So, I hope that you don't hate me for it.

The next chapter is the last, and will be an Epilogue.

Don't hate… review, and tell me how you cried…


	14. Epilogue

The family that came out of that night was a broken one… strong, but broken none the less. Lucas Scott had arrived just a hour after his daughter was born, finding his wife's best friend standing outside the nursery windows staring at a little girl. She spoke the name and he knew that she hadn't made it.

Then, when he asked where the others were, Brooke Davis just mumbled a short direction of "upstairs" and he knew that there was more to what had happened that night that just losing his wife and gaining a daughter.

The weeks went by and blame was passed. To God. To each other. Every now and then even to the small children that had only been in their lives for such a short time. But every time, they would realize that there was no one to blame for what happened that day.

The months went by and the hurt went away little by little. Caring for a baby took up more time than he had known, and grieving over losing a son or a best friend took up a lot of time as well. By the end of the third month, they could each speak their names without tears flowing freely down their cheeks.

The years passed by and the hurt stopped, and was replaced with a longing that no one understood. It wasn't sad or tragic, it was just there. Haley and Nathan welcomed a new baby into their lives, naming her Beth Peyton Scott, a combination of the girl they lost and the woman they all loved. Lucas and Anna lived a quiet, but amazing life, and honestly everything that they had talked about before she was born was something Lucas was bound and determined to give his daughter.

Yes, there was sadness, because let's be honest, with death comes sadness. However, there was unbelievable joy.

They never spoke of that year where moments were missed and friendships were tested.

Instead, they told stories of road trips to Texas, or going into labor in the middle of graduation. They talked about the craziness that was a high school love triangle and the novel that made everyone take pause.

And five years after the greatest hurt that they had known, Lucas Scott published a third novel… a success that no one knew he had been working on.

_There are moments that make a person. They are moments that shape the lives of those who are in them. A birth. A death. A romance. An attack. A loss. Welcoming arms. Someone wiping a tear away._

_Yes, these moments make us. And there are even moments that are missed. Maybe you were away. Maybe you turned your back for a split second. Maybe you blinked. Those are moments that can shape us as well. Last words you'll never hear. Last breaths you never saw. Not being the comforting shoulder to cry on._

_These moments have shaped my life, whether I was in them or not._

_I am thankful for them. Even those that have taken so much away from me, because I have realized something very important._

_Whether it is a moment that you have missed or a moment that has passed. There is no moment greater than the one that you are living right at this second._

_Seeing your niece smile at a woman who has been your best friend for years. Seeing your daughter running around the yard as her godmother and your brother chase after her. Realizing that you are going to be okay. Realizing that there are people that you have loved that are gone but are still looking in on you. _

_Live in these moments, these moments that you are having right now, and love them… whether good or bad, because they are a blessing. They are a blessing for you to take hold of._

The dedication page reads: _We are living the moments that you have to miss… and loving you both every step of the way._

Yes… it was a bittersweet day that day in the hospital, when two lives were lost, but the ones that lived on from that day realize more and more how blessed they truly are because of it.

--

And THE END.

I know that some of you HATED the fact that I killed both of them off, and I'm sorry for that… please don't hate me!! I'm sorry that some of you didn't like how the story ended, but I honestly couldn't write a happy ending to this one. I felt like it wouldn't be right for some reason. But hopefully the epilogue made up for it.

P.S. I posted it so quickly so you all wouldn't hate me forever!!!

Review… let me know what you think… and… I'm sorry!!!!


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